Page 72: of Marine News Magazine (September 2013)

Planned, developed and built by Dutch Peters Ship- yards, located in Kampen, a unique inland tanker is now the worlds ? rst river vessel driven by combustion engines consuming purely natural gas. In April, the innovative new vessel was handed over to its time charterer, Shell Nether- lands, who will operate the MTS Greenstream,? via Inter- stream Barging, between the Netherlands and Germany; primarily on the river Rhine. The vessel is the brain child of Geert van Voorn, CEO of Peters Shipyards, who masterminded the design of a new type of inland vessel for the next future. He explained, Af- ter almost three years of development we see the result: The natural gas powered Greenstream Tanker is a gas-elec- trically powered ship and that leads to much less impact on the environment. This is a milestone that could bring about a revolution for inland and coastal navigation. For example, natural gas will help shipowners meet increas- ingly stringent emission standards, some of which already apply to the river Rhine. That was one of the key drivers of the project.? Regarding the principals behind the development of the natural gas powered inland tanker, Geert van Voorn contin- ues, We wanted to make several more steps forward in the areas of sustainability, safety and ef? ciency. Therefore, we skipped the step of propulsion based on dual fuel; the com- bination of diesel and gas. We see dual fuel as an interim Dutch-based Peters Shipyards introduces revolutionary Inland Shipping concept. By Peter Pospiech Full Speed Ahead with Gas Full Speed Ahead with Gas Image above: The GREENSTREAMs front-positioned wheelhouse is unusual for an inland ship. September 201372 MNMN Sept2013 Layout 66-81.indd 728/29/2013 5:19:44 PM