LNG Bunkering Planned for Baltic Sea

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday November 15, 2012

Gasum, a Finnish gas grid company, plans to build three liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker sites for ships sailing on the Baltic Sea, Reuters reports.

"This market will grow fast and we want to be a leader in this sector," said Gasum Chief Executive Antero Jannes.

Russian gas exporter Gazprom, which owns a 25 percent share in Gasum, predicts that global demand for LNG as transport fuel will hit 40 billion cubic meters (bcm) by 2030, approaching half the total annual gas demand from Germany, Europe's biggest economy, which uses 90 bcm.

Limits on sulfur emissions in Emissions Control Areas (ECA), including the Baltic Sea, will fall to 0.1 percent in 2015, which is pushing the industry to adopt alternative fuels such as LNG that produce virtually no sulfur pollution.

Shipbuilder Wärtsilä Corporation said earlier this week that natural gas is the alternative fuel that offers the greatest potential for complying cost-effectively with the new standards, and a number of companies including Saudi Basic Industries Corporation have commissioned new LNG or hybrid vessels to operate in ECAs.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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