Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has ordered four car carrying vessels from Japan’s Minaminippon Shipbuilding for delivery in 2017 and 2018. Each vessel is almost 200m in length and will be able to carry 6,800 car equivalent units (CEUs) across 14 decks.
The company said the newly designed liftable decks, of which there will be six rather than two, will offer greater flexibility in accommodating vehicles of different heights, improving loading efficiency and meeting demand for more diversified vehicle transport. That move includes marketing the vessels at the high and heavy sector.
MOL has named the car carriers featuring this new deck construction the ‘Flexie’ series.
It also described how the vessels will be installed with electronically-controlled diesel engines and will adopt waste heat energy recovery system for generator engines and electric power consumption reduction technology.
In addition, the vessels’ hull form design will be improved, especially for low-speed range, and will be advanced with a wind-pressure reducing design to improve fuel efficiency as part of its Senpaku ISHIN project, which is aimed at reducing CO2 emissions by using currently available technologies.
