CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
A Matson containership floats past dive ships near Kewalo Basin on April 11.
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I was reading in the paper that Matson is building three more cargo ships. It made a point that the ships can use either diesel fuel or liquefied natural gas (LNG), usually a mix of ethane, propane and butane. LNG has to be held in airtight containers because it is only liquid under pressure.
Currently heavy fuel oil (HFO) is used, with a heat value of about 6,300,000 BTUs per barrel. And this is far less expensive than propane or butane for an equivalent BTU.
On ships at sea, it is just too dangerous and expensive to replace HFO with LNG. Also, the HFO being used now is already very low in sulfur.
William Reynolds
Kapolei
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