Lithuania-based oil and LNG terminal operator Klaipėdos Nafta (KN) on Monday (9 March) announced the first successful liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering carried out at the port of Klaipėdos.
In this operation, MV Greenland, a cement tanker was bunkered with 45 cubic meters of LNG gas at Malku Bay Terminal.
The success of the event was credited to the cooperation of several stakeholders- Klaipedos Nafta AB, Norwegian-based Cryo Shipping AS, Limkko group, Baltkonta UAB and Ignitis UAB.
In this case, a LNG filled ISO container was lifted onto a Baltkontos tow truck and transported to the Malku Bay terminal.
The first bunkering operation from the ISO container to the cement carrier in Klaipeda Port was carried out by Cryo Shipping AS, a company with experience in shipping and gas and oil, offering safe, customer-oriented and customer-friendly bunkering solutions.
The bunkering operation was conducted in accordance with all good practice requirements and recommendations of the European Maritime Safety Agency.
Following the bunkering of the ship, the ISO container of LNG gas purchased by Cryo Shipping from UAB Ignitis was refilled at a CNG onshore LNG distribution station.
Nicholai H. Olsen, Director of Cryo Shipping AS, pointed out that Klaipeda was chosen for the cement tanker bunkering because of the port’s CNG-LNG distribution station infrastructure.
“We are very grateful for all the help we have received from all the countries involved in this operation. We hope that Klaipeda will become an important LNG bunkering port in the future and Cryo Shipping will support and encourage this goal,” said Olsen.
The head of Cryo Shipping AS said that in future, the company has plans to acquire an LNG bunkering vessel, which would also be bunkering in Klaipeda port.
Darius Šilenskis, Director General of KN, pointed out that the whole process was complicated by the fact that there is no legislation regulating LNG bunkering in Lithuania today.
“The first document regulating LNG bunkering in the port will be the Port Shipping Rules, which are being revised by the entire LNG bunkering community,” said Šilenskis.
“While these were not available, Cryo Shipping AS had to go a long way in obtaining permission for the first LNG bunkering operation in the port of Klaipeda to negotiate a series of documents defining a safe operation and securing the permission of the Harbor Master’s Office in this particular case at Klaipeda Port,” he concluded.
Kęstutis Kairys, Head of Baltkonta UAB, notes that the first bunkering operation in Klaipeda is very good news for market participants and a major step forward in the field of LNG.
“I remember that two years ago we were just considering bunkering a ship from a tank truck. Today, this opportunity has become a reality and I have no doubt that this message will reach many shipowners who will discover Klaipeda as an LNG bunkering port, ”says Kairys.
The LNG bunkering operation that took place in Klaipeda Port this weekend may be the first. But Silensky says the number of LNG-bunkering procedures will increase as the number of LNG-powered ships and the growing number of their orders in the Baltic and North Seas escalates.
According to consulting and classification company DNV GL, there are 177 LNG-powered vessels worldwide and by 2027, another 208 marine vehicles using this fuel will be built. The highest concentration of such vessels is currently recorded in the North and Baltic Seas.
“The emergence of new LNG transport and bunkering vessels increases the competitiveness and availability of the region’s LNG market and facilitates more efficient use of the LNG infrastructure created in Klaipeda,” says D. Šilenskis.
LNG-powered vessels coming to Klaipeda port can be bunkered through three procedures at various port loading terminals from LNG tanker to ship, from terminal to ship in a custom CNG operated LNG distribution station and from ship to ship.
Although Klaipeda currently has no permanent resident LNG bunkering vessel, in the Baltic and North Sea region, LNG transportation and bunkering services are provided by a number of available vessels.
Related: PGNiG LNG reloading station at Klaipeda allows LNG bunkering ops
Photo credit: Klaipėdos Nafta
Published: 10 March, 2020
‘LNG bunkering in Poland has become a fact,’ it states and plans to introduce ship-to-ship ops in future.
The crane vessel owned by Paans Van Oord received LNG marine fuel via truck at the Port of Ijmuiden.
PitPoint’s LNG shore-to-ship bunkering station was opened in 2019 and significantly expedites the bunkering process by offering round the clock services.
Ecobunker said it will continue to promote eco-friendly bunker fuel, and contribute to develop Tokyo Bay as one of the world’s leading LNG bunkering hubs.
H-Energy inaugurates India’s first FSRU-based LNG Terminal at JSW Jaigarh Port on Monday.
Lomonosov Prospect and Mendeleev Prospect has reached Cape Dezhnev, the easternmost end of the NSR.
Caroline Yang, President of SSA, addresses issues earlier raised by players; including PMC No. 04, the seven-day restriction, contactless bunkering, sampling point, hose connection, and more.
IBIA Asia, ABIS, sources from Singapore’s bunkering and surveying companies, and an industry veteran share with Manifold Times the issues expected from MPA’s latest Covid-19 measures.
The top three positive movers in the 2020 bunker supplier list are Hong Lam Fuels Pte Ltd (+13); Chevron Singapore Pte Ltd (+12); and SK Energy International (+8), according to MPA list.
‘We will operate in the Singapore bunkering market from the Tokyo, with support from local staff at Sumitomo Corporation Singapore,’ source tells Manifold Times.
Changes include abolishing advance declaration of bunkers as dangerous cargo, reducing pilotage fees on vessels receiving bunkers, and a ‘whitelist’ system for bunker tankers.
Claim relates to deliveries of MGO to the vessels Pacific Diligence, Pacific Valkyrie, Pacific Defiance, Crest Alpha 1, and Pacific Warlock between March 2020 to April 2020.
