Lloyd’s Register (LR) has awarded approval in principle to the Marine Design and Research Institute of China for a new 114,000DWT product and crude oil tanker. The advanced vessel concept is strategically engineered to accommodate future retrofits for liquefied natural gas, methanol or ammonia operations. By embedding conversion readiness at the initial design stage, shipowners can mitigate long-term investment risks as alternative fuel regulations and global supply chains mature.
Concurrently, the classification society completed an independent assessment of a wind-assisted propulsion system developed by marine engineering firm SunRui, a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation. Following a rigorous review, LR verified the computational fluid dynamics of the suction sail technology. The evaluation confirmed that a three-sail configuration can generate a combined 700kN of forward thrust, significantly reducing fuel dependency and emissions.
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