RINA has announced the Approval in Principle(AiP) of the first very large crude carrier(VLCC) vessel using an innovative propulsion arrangement that reduces the ship’s resistance by 5-10%. This result is achieved by splitting the thrust of a single large propeller into two smaller ones, thus reducing the required ballast draft for the full propeller immersion, which in turn allows the reduction of the volume of the ballast tanks and, ultimately, of the overall ship dimensions and the required power for propulsion without impacting the cargo carrying capacity.
At the same time the vessel will meet the IMO targets for 2050 through the use of the ship’s fuel(LNG) combined with hydrogen produced onboard. The LNG/hydrogen-fuelled vessel general arrangement developed by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding(SWS) is based on the result of a joint project with Marin, the Liberia Administration, Wärtsilä, ABB and Helbio(a subsidiary of Metacon AB) and RINA. 
The new propulsion concept is important because it offers ship owners a way to exceed IMO 2050 carbon reduction targets using practical fuel and technology that is readily available today.
The propulsion design is based on combining LNG with steam in a Helbio gas reformer to split LNG molecules into hydrogen and CO2. Hydrogen is then directly used to fuel the internal combustion engines and fuel cells. The capture of carbon atom directly from the LNG molecules, serves as a pre-combustion technique, and the cryogenic separation of CO2 from a stream of reformed gases rather than from exhaust emissions results in much smaller installation on bard which eliminates the use of chemicals and the penalty in energy consumption.
The AiP to SWS, following the MR AiP design in Europe, shows the wider acceptance of the concept by global shipyards.