EMEA News
Skangass Commissions LNG Bunker Vessel
Skangass Wednesday announced it has commissioned a custom Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering vessel.
Coralius will have a 5,800 cubic metre cargo capacity and will be employed in ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operations in Skagerrak, Kattegat, and the Baltic Sea.
The new vessel is planned to be ready for use in early 2017 and will be chartered by Skangass from its joint venture owners Sirius Veder Gas AB on a long-term agreement.
"Skangass has a profound belief in the potential growth of LNG as fuel for the marine market," said the company, which expects the LNG bunkering market to receive a boost from tightened 2015 sulfur rules within Emissions Control Areas (ECAs).
"The vessel will provide easy access to LNG bunkering to customers and limit the operational impact of calling a port in order to bunker."
The company said it had recently gained its first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering contract and that the move is a "natural step for meeting this demand, and further developing our marine LNG supply chain."
"We will also be in a much stronger position to meet steadily rising demand for LNG," said Skangass CEO Tor Morten Osmundsen.
The Coralius building project is linked to the European Union (EU) part-funded Zero Vision Tool project which aims to bolster the EU's LNG infrastructure.
Coralius has been developed by Anthony Veder and Sirius, and will be built by the Royal Bodewes shipyard in the Netherlands.
last month Shell commissioned a sea-going LNG bunkering vessel for use around Rotterdam, saying the move "underlines our confidence in LNG becoming a bigger part of the fuel mix."
