EMEA News
Antwerp to Get Permanent LNG Bunkering Station
The Port of Antwerp says that a permanent liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering station serving barges powered by the fuel should be available to vessels there by the start of 2016.
Truck-to-ship bunkering has been available at the port since 2012, but the new station will make the fuel available at all times.
"In this way Antwerp Port Authority seeks to break out of the chicken-and-egg situation," the port said.
"By making LNG permanently available it is hoped that the barge industry will be more willing to make the necessary investments for switching to this more environment-friendly fuel."
The port has issued a call for tenders, seeking a company to design and build the station, which will serve trucks as well as ships.
The project will be partly subsidized by the LNG Master Plan for the Rhine-Main-Danube, which is part of the European Commission's TEN-T programme to encourage more environmentally friendly transportation.
Antwerp is part of a cooperative agreement for the development of LNG bunerking infrastructure that also includes the port authorities of Rotterdam, Mannheim, Strasbourg, and Switzerland.
