The Port of Barcelona on Wednesday (5 February) said 229,750 cubic metre (m³) of LNG were supplied at the port in 2024, achieving an increase of 60.5% compared to 2023.

The Port said the achievement placed Barcelona as the leading port in the state - with 40% of the total m³ of LNG supplied - and one of the first in Europe in LNG bunkering. 

In 2024, a total of 491 LNG bunkering operations were carried out for ships, of which 402 were via tankers trucks, with 45,427 m³ supplied, and 89 were ship-to-ship (STS) transfers from barges, with 184,324 m³ delivered. 

Of the 8,398 ship calls at the Port of Barcelona during 2024, 822 calls were from ships using LNG, about 10% of the total calls at the port.  

The ships that have received LNG bunker fuel in Barcelona have been mainly cruises and ferries, reaching close to 23% and 19% of the calls of both types of ships and contributing to a reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions of 20% for cruises and 18% for ferries. 

The top cruise companies have incorporated LNG-powered ships into their fleets, a good number of which operate regularly in Barcelona. During 2024, a total of 1,664,712 cruise passengers (45.5%) passed through Barcelona on board an LNG-powered cruise ship.

The increase in bunker supply of 60.5% has been possible due to several factors: 

• the presence of the LNG supply barge based in the Haugesund port Knutsen, from the company Knutsen-Scale Gas,
• the commitment of the shipping company Baleària to LNG, provided by several tanker trucks at the same time,
• and the incorporation of new types of ships that use LNG in the port, notably car carriers. The Lake Herman ship, from Japanese shipping company MOL, was the first vehicle carrier to carry out LNG bunkering at the Port of Barcelona, ​​followed by four more ships of the same service, to which two new ships have been added at the beginning of 2025. 

During 2024, the fast ferry Margarita Salas, powered by dual LNG engines, was also added. Operated by Baleària, this ship began operating last June, connecting Barcelona with Mallorca and Menorca at high speed. This new connection reinforces the commitment to integrating LNG into passenger transport and significantly reduces the emissions generated on this route.

The Port of Barcelona said it will continue to facilitate the introduction of LNG with measures such as administrative simplification to facilitate the authorisation of LNG bunkering operations; and the availability of generic risk analyses to be able to expand these operations to other types of ships. 

During 2025, new risk analyses will be carried out to allow the supply of LNG to container ships, for which the port has already received interest from supply operators.

Photo credit: Port of Barcelona
Published: 7 February, 2025

Hapag-Lloyd on Tuesday (4 February) said it has fully secured USD 4 billion long-term financing for 24 new LNG dual-fuel, ammonia-ready containerships that it ordered from two Chinese shipyards last October. 

Of these, 12 newbuildings – each with a capacity of 16,800 TEU – will be built by Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group. These units will be used to expand the capacity of services that are already in place. 

An additional 12 ships, each with a capacity of 9,200 TEU, have been ordered from New Times Shipbuilding Company Ltd. and will replace older units in the Hapag-Lloyd fleet that will be nearing the end of their service life in this decade.

The ships will be equipped with low-emission and fuel-efficient high-pressure liquefied gas dual-fuel engines. 

In addition, these vessels can be operated using biomethane, which can reduce CO2e emissions by up to 95% compared to conventional propulsion systems. The new ships will also be ammonia ready.

Hapag-Lloyd will take delivery of the new vessels between 2027 and 2029. The newbuildings will have a combined capacity of 312,000 TEU.

The financing consists of four components. Around USD 900 million of the purchase price will be financed using the company’s own funds. A total of USD 500 million will be made available from two banks in the form of bilateral mortgage loans.

Another part, in the amount of USD 1.8 billion, will be financed via three leasing structures, and USD 1.1 billion will be financed via a syndicated credit facility backed by the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure). The financing share amounts to a total of around 80% of the investment volume, with maturities ranging between 10 and 18 years.

The financing will be carried out on the basis of Hapag-Lloyd’s Green Financing Framework, which in turn complies with the standards of the Green Loan Principles of the Loan Market Association (LMA). This has been verified by an independent expert opinion of the international classification society DNV, as has the high efficiency of the ships and their compliance with the EU Taxonomy.

“We are continuously modernizing our fleet in order to deliver a high quality of service and to achieve our ambitious decarbonization goals,” said Mark Frese, CFO/CPO of Hapag-Lloyd AG. 

“The successful conclusion of several attractive financial transactions confirms that green financing components are becoming increasingly important. In addition, we are pleased to be able to finance newbuild projects in China for the first time with the Sinosure transaction.”

Photo credit: Hapag-Lloyd
Published: 5 February, 2025

Seaspan Energy (Seaspan) on Monday (3 February) said it has successfully completed the first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation in Canada, which took place in the Port of Vancouver in the Upper Harbour.

The ship-to-ship LNG bunkering to a tanker at anchor was performed by the Seaspan Lions, named after the twin peaks of the North Shore, or known as Ch’ich’iyúy Elxwíkn (“Twin Sisters” or “Two Sisters”) to the Squamish Nation.

“Completing our first successful bunkering in local waters is a major milestone for Seaspan Energy and marks the introduction of a low-carbon fuel alternative from the Port of Vancouver and beyond,” said Harly Penner, President of Seaspan Energy. 

“With two of our LNG bunkering vessels now operational and our first bunkering in the books, our message to ship owners globally is that we now offer an accredited LNG bunkering option here in Vancouver.”

Seaspan Energy’s first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering took place in December 2024 in the Port of Long Beach to a containership. 

Seaspan’s fleet of three 112m long LNG bunkering vessels is poised to serve the West Coast of North America and will be ready for further deployment as the global LNG fuel market continues to mature and evolve.

Photo credit: Seaspan Energy
Published: 4 February, 2025