About the Ship/A Virtual Tour

The Apollonia is a 298-meter dual fuel diesel-electric (DFDE) LNG carrier. Delivered in January of 2014, she is the first in her class of vessels being built for Maran Gas Maritime by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries in Busan, South Korea. She is named after an ancient Greek city and Piraeus, Greece is the ship’s home port.

Natural gas is a hydrocarbon fuel that consists mostly of methane and is used around the world for electric power generation, heating, and domestic purposes. LNG carriers transport it in cryogenic liquid form at its boiling point of -160°C at atmospheric pressure. Natural gas is around 600 times more dense in liquid form, which allows it to be transported more efficiently (and safely) than in gaseous form.

Over time, heat transfer into the tanks causes the liquid to slowly boil, resulting in about 0.1% of the total cargo volume changing to gaseous form each day. This natural boil-off (NBO) is compressed and piped to the engine room where it is used to fuel the generators. Under most conditions, this gas alone is enough to cover the ship’s propulsion and auxiliary power requirements.

Powering the ship with NBO results in very clean operation, with the emissions theoretically consisting of only carbon dioxide and water vapor. In the event that fuel gas is not available, the engines can run off of traditional heavy fuel oil or marine diesel oil (hence the term “dual fuel”).

At the heart of the ship’s operation is the integrated automation system (IAS), which allows many of the ship’s systems to be monitored and controlled remotely by computer. Pumps, valves, generators, motors, and switchboards for systems ranging from cargo handling to propulsion can be adjusted through terminals in three central locations. The ability to monitor gauges and operating data without searching all over the ship greatly reduces the time required to perform regular checks and tasks and thus the number of crew required to man the vessel.

Now for a brief look around the Apollonia…

The helm station and main navigation console on the bridge...no paper charts here!

The Cargo Control Room (CCR) where unloading and loading operations are managed from using the IAS and other systems.

The Engine Control Room (ECR)... also lots of computers

The bow of the ship with mooring winches and two anchor windlasses

A spare 14.1 tonne anchor

The aft deck and various machinery

One of two passageways that runs the length of the cargo tanks between the inner and outer hull

The cargo manifolds found on each side where LNG, natural gas, and different fuels are transferred on and off of the ship

The motors that power the four cargo compressors used during loading and for fueling the engines with NBO

The compressor room and its maze of piping...the different lines have temperatures ranging from -160° to 80° C

The starboard set of Wartsila 50DF engines; one a V12 and the other an inline-8. 50 represents the cylinder bore in centimeters, and there is another pair of gensets on the port side.

The generator motors driven by the engines.

The hydraulic steering gear consisting of redundant sets of pumps and cylinders. The round part in center is the top of the rudder stalk.

From front to back: the propeller shaft, reduction gear, and twin electric propulsion motors.

Not being able to be home for the holidays is a very unfortunate circumstance but a fact of life for seafarers. Although we were in the middle of the ocean, we still had fine celebrations and some of the public areas were nicely decorated.

Part of the Christmas brunch!

Almost to Trinidad… smooth sailing so far!

Καλώς ήρθατε! (Welcome Aboard!)

We successfully signed on with the Apollonia Friday morning after two flights, a car ride, and a shuttle to the LNG terminal in Milford Haven, Wales.  A massive blue object appeared in the distance as the van came around a bend in the road. As we approached, it finally set in that this was the real thing and we will be calling this ship home for the next two months!

The LNG/C Maran Gas Apollonia

Our early departure midway through finals week meant that we had to take two exams the day of our flight. This did not allow time to relax before starting our adventure, but there was much to explore now that we were on board. Yesterday we learned that we are heading to Trinidad, where we will load our next cargo.

One of the infamous Webb stinkbugs hitched a ride in our baggage…

The majority of Wales' electrical power comes from renewable energy and power plants burning natural gas. The country is an importer of the gas, and a growing portion of this fuel comes from ships like ours that carry it in liquid form.

In the photo below, the vertical appendages are the arms that connect to the ship’s manifolds to exchange the cargo. They must each move freely to match the motions of the ship while loading over 1300 liters of LNG per second at -160 C.

The terminal's arms lined up with the ships manifolds

The rocky Welsh coastline. We experienced some stereotypical UK weather… 

After the unloading was finished Saturday morning, we took on provisions from a barge alongside the ship. Palette after palette was lifted to the deck with the crane, giving us three months’ worth of supplies, equipment, and food. Stowing the goods in different places allowed us to learn the layout of the accommodation block fairly quickly.

That afternoon, the pilots and tugs arrived to guide us out of the channel. Observing the action on the bridge was very neat and it was interesting to see how the bridge officers were able to communicate with the deck crew, tugs, and pilots to maneuver the vessel. The ship had to back out of its berth, rotate 180 degrees in the middle of the channel, and then navigate out to the open water.

And so begins a 10 day trip to Trinidad!

Heading southwest across the Atlantic