The LNG-powered chemical tanker, Ternsund over the weekend bunkered liquefied natural gas at the entrance to the Port of Gothenburg, at a protected location, just off the island of Fotö.
The 15,000 dwt tanker, built for Terntank Rederi at Avic Dingheng in China, received liquefied natural gas from the Skangas-chartered Coral Energy vessel.
According to Skangas, the event marked a milestone for each company involved in the operation.
It was the first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering for Skangas, the LNG-powered Ternsund, the port of Gothenburg and Anthony Veder, the owner of the 15,600-cbm Coral Energy.
Skangas added that it will start operating a new LNG bunkering vessel in early 2017, until when it will continue to provide bunkering service’s using the Coral Energy. The new bunker vessel, Coralius, will have a capacity of 5800-cbm.
The ship-to-ship bunkering operation is expected to be followed in the future by a number of other vessels on a regular basis, Port of Gothenburg said.
In its last week’s statement , Port of Gothenburg said that around 10 LNG-powered newbuilds are heading to their respective Swedish owners and will operate on the routes that pass Gothenburg.
The port has additionally set up an incentive program, offering a port charge discount to LNG-powered vessels in an attempt to encourage operators to make the switch to use LNG as fuel.
Ternsund was the first vessel to take advantage of the incentive program, receiving a full 30 percent discount, the Port of Gothenburg said.
LNG World News Staff