Wednesday at the Chinese shipyard of Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering Co. (CIMC SOE) was launched and christened the Alice Cosulich, the first of the two Smal Scale & Bunker ships ordered by the Italian Fratelli Cosulich. The bettolina, which will fly the Italian flag and will be equipped with Wärstilä's dual fuel technology, it has a capacity of 5,300 tons deadweight and can transport 8,200 cubic meters of liquefied natural gas and 500 meters cubes of marine diesel. The propulsion and maneuvering system will be azimuthal type, with double bow thruster, to allow high maneuverability in port areas. The ship will be taken over next September.

The investment was supported by the collaboration between public bodies and private financial institutions with Cassa Depositi and Loans, SACE Simest (under the "Green Guarantee"), BPER Banca and Banca Popolare di Sondrio. Fratelli Cosulich made I note that, as the project is contributing to the Decarbonisation of maritime transport through the implementation of LNG bunkering solutions in the Sea Mediterranean, received funding from the European Union as part of the Connecting Europe Facility programme, with Cassa Deposits and Loans as an implementing partner.