Gas Bunkering News

The world’s largest containership powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) began its first gas bunkering operation in Rotterdam on Thursday, French shipping company the CMA CGM Group said.The CMA CGM Jacques Saadé, which has an 18,600 cubic meter tank, will be refueled with LNG while port handling operations are underway, marking the largest LNG bunkering operation ever undertaken for a containership.Once bunkering is complete, CMA CGM’s flagship will continue its maiden voyage…

Japanese shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has signed its first green loan, which it plans to use to partially finance the construction of the world's largest liquefied natural gas bunkering vessel (LNGBV).The 18,600 cubic meters (cbm) LNGBV for Total will be owned and operated by MOL. Last year, Total and MOLsigned a long-term charter contract for a pioneer LNG bunker vessel.The loan is provided by BNP Paribas (BNPP) and the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM), with both banks acting as Mandated Lead Arrangers and BNPP acting as Sole Green Structuring Advisor. MOL obtained a second party opinion in respect of the loan from a third-party institute.Green Loans are used to raise funds for businesses aimed at protecting and improving the environment.

Netherlands-based service supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Titan LNG has christened its liquefied natural gas bunkering barge, the FlexFueler001, in the port of Amsterdam.The event marks the official commencement of safe, efficient and cost-effective inland waterway LNG bunkering in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) region.At the event in the Port of Amsterdam a mix of LNG fellow travellers gathered, including customers, business partners, and manufactures of the FlexFueler. Yvonne Brouwer, the partner of Niels den Nijs (CEO Titan LNG) performed the ceremony and broke the champagne bottle across the bow whilst wishing the vessel and the crew smooth sailings.Niels den Nijs said: “We’d like to thank Kooiman Marine Group…

Estonian energy company Eesti Gaas completed the 1,500th liquefied natural gas bunkering operation at the Tallinn old city harbor with the Megastar ferry operating between Tallinn and Helsinki.Megastar is serviced by eight Eesti Gaas’s trailer carriers which were purchased especially for this purpose.“LNG supply has been reliable, and no problems occurred in the thousand times the vessel was bunkered. Megastar’s lower fuel consumption and lower environmental pollution level than we had expected have strengthened our conviction that LNG is a very good alternative to diesel fuel among currently available marine fuels,” said captain Tarvi-Carlos Tuulik…

Swedegas, the owner of the gas grid in Sweden, conducted the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering operation at its new facility at the Port of Gothenburg.Gothenburg-based shipping company Terntank was the very first operator to take on  LNG at a new bunkering facility, said the Swedish owner and operator of the high-pressure gas grid.Not only liquefied natural gas, LNG, but also liquefied biogas, LBG, it added.“Being able to offer this unique opportunity represents a major breakthrough, not only in facilitating the transition to LNG, but also in gradually increasing the proportion of renewable gas,” said Johan Zettergren, Chief Executive of Swedegas, which owns and runs the facility.The facility is the only one of its kind in Sweden, it claimed.

Wärtsilä and Viking Line signed an Optimized Maintenance agreement for the Wärtsilä LNGPac system onboard passenger ferry Viking Grace, significant in that it is the first Optimized Maintenance agreement ever made for Wärtsilä LNGPac, a complete gas handling system for ships fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG). Viking Grace was the first passenger ferry to useLNG as a fuel source. The agreement also includes Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) and online support for the Wärtsilä LNGPac system.

ENGIE, Fluxys, Mitsubishi Corporation, and NYK have taken delivery of the world’s first purpose built liquefied natural gas bunkering vessel (LBV) from Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd., at the Yeongdo shipyard in Busan, Korea. She will run on LNG for her maiden voyage, after a few days of loading LNG delivered by trucks at the shipyard. Zeebrugge in Belgium will be the home port of the vessel, which has been named ENGIE Zeebrugge accordingly. From there, the 5,000 m3 LNG capacity LBV will supply LNG as a marine fuel to ships operating in Northern Europe. The two LNG-fueled pure car and truck carriers (PCTC) operated by United European Car Carriers will be its first customers.

ENGIE, Fluxys, Mitsubishi Corporation, and NYK have taken delivery of the world’s first purpose built liquefied natural gas bunkering vessel (LBV) from Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd., at the Yeongdo shipyard in Busan, Korea. She will run on LNG for her maiden voyage, after a few days of loading LNG delivered by trucks at the shipyard. Zeebrugge in Belgium will be the home port of the vessel, which has been named ENGIE Zeebrugge accordingly. From there, the 5,000 m3 LNG capacity LBV will supply LNG as a marine fuel to ships operating in Northern Europe. The two LNG-fueled pure car and truck carriers (PCTC) operated by United European Car Carriers will be its first customers.

Senior U.S. Coast Guard leaders and liquefied-gas-industry experts from around the country came together the second week of December at Sector Houston-Galveston to prepare for the increased use of liquefied gases throughout the maritime community and gain a deeper understanding of the intricacies each party faces as they adapt to the rapid growth in this multibillion dollar industry. The maritime community is experiencing an international shift with the increased transport and use of liquefied gases. The increased supply created by the U.S.

DNV GL has developed a new class notation for gas bunker vessels that targets safer fuel transfer operations from one ship to another. Until now, the development of standards guiding gas fuel transfer operations in ports has lagged behind, as the maritime industry focussed on developing standards for gas fuelled ships rather than bunkering arrangements. This notation addresses safety concerns in this field and covers gas bunker vessels design and additional requirements to support the development of gas fuelled shipping and bunker operations in ports. The rules are flexible and include a variety of gas fuels as well as the configuration of bunker transfer systems.

A new passenger ferry being built for Swedish operator Rederi AB Gotland will be fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and will feature a Wärtsilä integrated solution. The Wärtsilä integrated solution includes a complete LNG powered propulsion- and fuel storage and supply system, as well as comprehensive project services.This will be the first Swedish flagged LNG powered passenger vessel and the first LNG fuelled high speed RoPax ferry in the world. The vessel is being built at the Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) yard in China and when delivered…

To meet the rapidly growing demand for a wide variety of LNG related services, DNV GL has established a group of LNG experts in North America. In addition to deep LNG expertise, the Houston-based “LNG Solutions Group - Americas” is also experienced in all business, risk and regulatory matters specific to the North American market. With the increasingly strict regulation of sulphur emissions in force next year and the already tightened Emission Control Area regulation for the U.S., ship owners are likely to feel more pain by the rising fuel prices.

Wärtsilä has been awarded an important retrofitting contract by the German shipyard, BVT - Brenn - und Verformungstechnik Bremen GmbH. The project entails converting the m/v Ostfriesland, a car and passenger ferry owned by Aktien-Gesellschaft "EMS", so that it can utilise liquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuel. The vessel sails between Emden and Borkum Island on the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park, an ecologically sensitive UNESCO World Heritage listed area in the southeastern part of the North Sea, and the retrofit will significantly reduce the ship's environmental impact.

The introduction of new emissions control areas (ECA) off the coastal waters of the US and Canada promise great changes for shipping in the region. regulations coloured many of the topics discussed at the North American Committee of Germanischer Lloyd (GL), which met at the Hotel Delta in Quebec City this week. The Committee examined such topics as GL's activities, both globally and in the Americas, ship efficiency, the rising importance of natural gas for the maritime industry, the technical challenges facing shipping in reducing emissions and upcoming regulations. The Committee, which only celebrated its inauguration in 2010, is made up of representatives from Canadian and American ship owners and operators…

This extension to the delivery contract awarded to Wärtsilä further contributes to the vessel being the industry’s most environmentally sound and energy efficient large passenger vessel to date. Wärtsilä, the marine industry’s leading solutions provider, has been awarded a contract by shipbuilding company STX Finland Oy to supply additional equipment for the world’s biggest LNG fuelled passenger ferry. The ship is to be built for Viking Line, a Finnish owner, and the extension…

Wärtsilä was awarded a contract by shipbuilding company STX Finland Oy to supply additional equipment for the world's biggest LNG fuelled passenger ferry. The ship is to be built for Viking Line, a Finnish owner, and the extension contract covers onboard LNG (liquefied natural gas) storage and supply systems (LNGPac) and an advanced Compact Silencer System (CSS). Earlier in 2011, Wärtsilä had received an order to deliver four gas-fuelled main engines and propulsion machinery for the same vessel, which will sail the Baltic Sea between Turku, Finland, and Stockholm, Sweden.

Gas as ship fuel was the topic of the March 18 GL First Class Exchange Forum which highlighted GL's approach towards the environmental concerns of the maritime industry. The forum addressed all aspects related to LNG as an alternative ship fuel. Invited speakers presented the LNG supply chain development from a ship owner's and gas terminal operator's view. Regulatory developments at IMO were explained by a representative of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs, Germany. Details about a joint industry project on a gas-fuelled container feeder vessel were discussed by representatives of Germanischer Lloyd (GL)…