Svanehøj Bags Fuel Pump Order for 15 LNG Dual-fuel Containerships
Danish marine pump specialist Svanehøj announced it secured a new order from Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding to deliver fuel pump systems for a series of 15 newbuild 7,000 TEU dual-fuel liquefied natural gas (LNG) container vessels.
The total of 30 deepwell fuel pumps will be delivered from August 2022 to January 2024, Svanehøj said, noting the order ranks among its largest relating to LNG fuel to date.
The deal marks the second time within the last year that this customer has chosen Svanehøj as the supplier of LNG fuel pump systems. In July 2021, they signed a contract for deepwell pumps for 10 15,000 TEU dual-fuel LNG containerships.
“Until a few years ago, the use of LNG as a marine fuel was limited to LNG carriers and smaller ships. But we are now seeing a sharp increase in fuel pump orders for deep sea vessels such as containerships and car carriers,” said Johnny Houmann, Svanehøj's chief sales officer.
Orders for dual-fuel LNG vessels broke all records in 2021, with a total of 240 ships globally—more than the previous four years combined.
Svanehøj said it quadrupled sales of its patented deepwell fuel pumps in 2021, and there are many indications that sales may increase even further in 2022. According to data from classification society DNV, orders for 56 dual-fuel LNG vessels have been placed in January and February.
“We were chosen as the supplier of fuel pump systems for over 50% of the dual-fuel LNG container vessels ordered globally in 2020-21. And we aim to increase our market share further in the coming years,” Houmann said.
Investing in manufacturing and equipment
Svanehøj is currently investing more than DKK 10 million to upgrade its production facilities in Denmark, including a new factory layout with manufacturing cells and robotics that will help reduce lead times for all products.
“We have made a strategic decision to implement lean manufacturing. By rethinking our processes, we expect to increase productivity and capacity by up to 50%,” said Mikkel Bülow Bundgaard Sørensen, lean specialist, Svanehøj.
Svanehøj said it aims to double its turnover to DKK 1 billion ($152 million) by 2026. In addition to fuel pumps for LNG, LPG and carbon-neutral fuels, the company said it sees great potential in developing pump solutions for the infrastructure to be built around Power-to-X and carbon capture and storage (CCS).