EMEA News
PGNiG and LOTOS Claim LNG Bunker Delivery First
Polish Oil & Gas Company SA (PGNiG) says that, along with Grupa LOTOS S.A. (Lotos), the company has delivered 120 m³ of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be used as bunkers in a platform supply vessel (PSV) currently under construction at Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. (Remontowa) in Gdansk - the first such LNG logistics project to be completed within Poland.
The delivery is said to have seen the gas transferred from the Polskie LNG-operated Lech Kaczynski LNG terminal at Świnoujście to the shipyard via tank cars, and is will enable the vessel's sea trials prior to commissioning,
"The terminal in Świnoujście allows us to efficiently transport LNG across the country," said Henryk Mucha, President of PGNiG Obrót Detaliczny.
"More and more vessels are powered with LNG, as a fuel ensuring compliance with the most stringent regulations pertaining to sulfur and other noxious product emissions. This is why we are going to develop our bunkering services."
While Lotos already supplies conventional bunker fuels, the recent LNG supply project is said to mark the company's diversification into LNG bunkers in order to meet new demand within the market for low sulfur fuels.
"The technologies of LNG distribution and use are technologies of the future," said Przemysław Marchlewicz, Vice President of Lotos' Management Board.
"I am glad that Grupa LOTOS, jointly with PGNiG and the shipyards, is taking on this challenge to the benefit of the entire country. We will support the development of this branch and related infrastructure. It is a right and desirable direction also, or perhaps mainly, because of environmental reasons."
In July, DNV GL said it had submitted a report to the European Union (EU) that offers guidance on how to address barriers challenging the widespread adoption of LNG as marine fuel, noting that there are no longer any "major showstoppers" remaining.
