EMEA News
Total Inks Ten-Year Deal to Supply CMA CGM Newbuilds with LNG Bunkers
Total Marine Fuels Global Solutions (TMFGS) is to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker fuel to box ship operator CMA CGM under a ten-year agreement.
The French oil and bunkering company said the annual volume it would supply would be 300,000 metric tonnes of LNG.
TMF said that it may charter an LNG bunkering vessel to deliver the fuel in Europe.
Also in the offing is an agreement to supply marine lubricants to CMA CGM's nine, LNG-fuelled newbuilds. These ships will be delivered from 2020 onwards.
"The wider use of LNG as a fuel is an important component of Total's LNG strategy," said Patrick Pouyanné, company chairman and chief executive. "This agreement highlights our involvement in developing dedicated supply chains for this new fuel," he added.
The two companies have been co-operating from earlier this year on the best way to meet the 2020 global 0.5% sulfur cap on marine fuel.
LNG bunker fuel is an alternative to conventional residual fuel oil. CMA CGM said last month it would equip its 22,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEUs) capacity newbuild vessels with engines capable of burning LNG, a decision seen as a major step forward towards the wider acceptance in the shipping industry of LNG as shipping fuel.
