EMEA News
LNG Bunkering Pioneers Seek Government Framework
Two leaders in the adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkers at the Port of Rotterdam say, in an article posted on the port's website, that governments must provide a framework and incentives for the use of the fuel.
Gerard Deen, owner and CEO of Deen Shipping, which operates a barge using LNG for 80 percent of its fuel, and Dick Meurs, managing director of Gate terminal, which supplies the fuel, said they both want to "bring the use of LNG to the next level" at the port.
To make that happen, they said there should be a clear government framework for regulation, taxation, and standards, as well as tax benefits for inland ship owners who adopt the fuel and investors who help finance its use.
"The use of LNG as fuel is still relatively unknown to the general public, market parties and government entities," Deen and Meurs said.
"Informing and persuading these groups, will hopefully lead to more understanding and eventually increases the use of LNG in the entire sector."
Already Gasunie and Vopak are developing an LNG distribution terminal next to Gate terminal, while Gate terminal itself is providing jetties for small seagoing LNG carriers to load the fuel for distribution.
In 2015, Deen Shipping will also introduce two new LNG bunker barges designed for bunkering seagoing vessels at the port and distributing the fuel to inland terminals.
The ports of Rotterdam and Gothenburg signed an agreement last year to provide LNG bunkers by 2015,and Shell said in April that it is using two inland shipping tankers powered by LNG alone between Rotterdam and Basel.
