Another LNG dual-fuel unit joins the ranks as MSC's green fleet grows

Switzerland-based shipping colossal Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) recently welcomed its thirteenth liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered dual-fuel container vesselfrom China.

According to the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), the 16,000 TEU containership MSC Josefina, constructed by CSSC’s subsidiary Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSIC), was christened and delivered “ahead of schedule.”

The Liberia-flagged newbuilding can carry around 16,196 standard containers, including 1,800 refrigerated containers. It has an overall length of 366 meters and a beam of 51 meters, with a deadweight capacity of 168,000 tonnes.

As informed, MSC Josefina was designed based on a “safety, economy and environmental protection” concept, having been outfitted with energy efficiency-oriented solutions that would enable the newbuild’s owner to achieve ‘optimal’ energy saving levels as well as operational performance during vessel management.

The Suezmax newbuilding’s delivery comes on the heels of a string of vessel handovers that Mediterranean Shipping Company marked in the past couple of months.

In the last stretch of April this year, for instance, MSC added three more dual-fuel container vessels that run on liquefied natural gas to its roster: the 260-meter-long MSC Namibia and Cameroon and the 335-meter-long MSC