Volkswagen Group distributes its automotive products to various countries around the world using several hundred commercial vessels and 11 chartered ship carriers, resulting in vast plumes of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
However, now Volkswagen is putting two new ultramodern vehicle carriers into service this year. The first of them, named SIEM Confucius, will leave the port of Emden soon with a cargo of 4,800 vehicles and head for Vera Cruz, Mexico.
The Confucius and its sister ship, the Aristotle, burn liquified natural gas, which results in 25% lower carbon emissions, 30% less nitrogen oxide emissions, 60% fewer fine particulates, and no sulfur oxides.
This makes Volkswagen, the world’s first company, to put LNG vehicle transporter of this size into service. This is an important step towards decarbonization as the company aims to reduce its total net CO2 emissions by 30% and to be fully carbon neutral by 2050.
Both ships are 200 meters long and 38 meters wide, with 13 car decks that can handle up to 4,800 cars and light commercial vehicles.
The ships are powered by 12,600 kW dual-fuel marine engines with direct injection and exhaust gas after treatment supplied by MAN Energy Solutions. MAN is part of the Volkswagen Group.
They have a cruising speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h). Each has two LNG fuel tanks that hold 1,800 cubic meters of refrigerated liquid natural gas — enough to complete one round trip journey across the Atlantic.
In addition to LNG, the ships can also operate on biogas or E-gas from renewable sources.
Reference- Volkswagen Online Newsroom, Clean Technica