A COMBINATION carrier vessel, able to carry wet and dry bulk products, has arrived in Australia for the first time.
The MV Barramundi (IMO 9813113), from Norwegian shipping company Klaveness Combination Carriers ASA, flagged in the Marshall Islands, is said to offers a low carbon footprint for both Australian wet commodity imports and dry bulk exports.
It is a CLEANBU-type vessel, with a flexible design aimed at allowing it to efficiently carry wet commodities such as clean petroleum products and caustic soda to Australia from Asia, and dry bulk products such as alumina, bauxite, iron ore, salt and coal on its return voyage.
CLEANBUs are 82,500 DWT.
KCC chief executive Engebret Dahm said they were “excited to introduce this new shipping concept to Australia”.
“With few exceptions, standard tankers and dry bulk vessels servicing Australia only bring cargo in one direction, going empty in the other direction carrying water as ballast over long distances,” Mr Dahm said.
“Tankers transporting wet cargoes to Australia go empty back to Asia and dry bulk vessels go empty from Asia to Australia to load Australian dry bulk exports.”
The MV Barramundi is arriving in Sydney with a shipment of gasoline and return Asia with a dry bulk cargo of spodumene.
“This shipping concept represents a progressive shift for the petroleum industry, and the broader mining and shipping industries in Australia and is a significant step toward lowering greenhouse gas emissions in global seaborne markets,” Mr Dahm said.
“We expect the CLEANBU vessels to reduce CO2 emissions by 35-40% and NOx emissions by 40-50% compared to standard vessels, and we hope this first shipment will pave the way for a more climate-friendly, cost-efficient transportation solution for the Australian petroleum and mining industry.”
