EMEA News
Gibraltar Government: LNG Bunkering is Safer and Cleaner than Bunkering Diesel
The Gibraltar government last week said that Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering is both safer and cleaner than diesel bunkering, local media reports.
"The bunkering of liquefied natural gas is not only safer than the bunkering of diesel, but is also cleaner," said a government statement.
"This is the reason why most major international bunkering ports are making the move to liquefied natural gas as the fuel of the future."
The comments came in response to opposition party the Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD), which accused the government of planning to commission a LNG handling installation as part of plans for a new power plant without properly addressing safety concerns.
According to separate reports, GSD said the government was planning to handle LNG bunkering at the site in "huge quantities by any measure" but had not "undertaken the necessary studies to determine that this was safe."
The government responded, saying "the GSD seem obsessed with sensationalising the risks involved with the bunkering of liquefied natural gas, despite having themselves acknowledged that this risk is extremely low: one in 10,000."
"Indeed, Gibraltar's economy is already heavily fuelled by the bunkering of diesel."
In January, Gibraltar said it had updated contingency plans for an oil spill in its territorial waters.
