South Korea’s STX Offshore & Shipbuilding started the construction of Shell Western LNG B.V.’s new LNG bunker vessel with a steel cutting ceremony on December 4.
The LNG bunker vessel will be based at the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and will load from the new LNG break bulk terminal currently under construction by the Gas Access to Europe terminal.
This sea-going vessel, with a capacity of 6,500 cubic metres of LNG fuel, will be able to deliver to LNG-fuelled vessels in northwest Europe and at other locations as well.
As World Maritime News reported, the contract for the bunker vessel was signed in December 2014.
Additionally, Shell signed a new LNG supply agreement for its specialized LNG bunker vessel with Containerships Ltd Oy, the company’s launching customer, on November 24, 2015.
Containerships Ltd Oy will charter 1.400 TEU container vessels, currently being built by Nordic Hamburg Shipping in China. The vessels will receive LNG fuel from Shell at the port of Rotterdam, after the LNG bunker vessel becomes operational in mid-2017.
“Working together with customers like Containerships is critical to encourage the use of LNG as a fuel in the marine sector, and we’re committed to helping make the transition to LNG,” says Lauran Wetemans, Shell’s General Manager Downstream LNG.
Demand for LNG as a fuel in the shipping industry is increasing due to emissions reduction requirements that came into force in January 2015.