Gasum’s dual-fuel LNG bunker vessel Kairos returns to fleet

Gasum’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker supply vessel Kairos has been sub-leased outside the company since October 2022, but has now returned to Gasum’s own bunkering fleet. 

Kairos has a capacity of 7,500 cbm and is equipped with a dual-fuel engine using LNG as main fuel and is equipped with a range of technical features.

The ship has been designed to supply LNG to various types and sizes of vessels at all possible bunkering locations in Northwest Europe. The vessel can supply LNG with a transfer rate from 60 cbm per hour up to 1,250 cbm per hour.

Additionally, the vessel’s cranes have a range of up to 30 meters. Kairos is able to operate under harsh weather conditions and at high sea, due to the vessel being DP2 certified and built to ice class 1A.

Volume growth in the maritime LNG bunkering segment has been gathering speed steadily during 2023 and is expected to further pick up pace towards the end of the year, according to Gasum.

Switching to LNG from traditional maritime fuels means complete removal of SOx and particles, and a reduction of NOx emissions of up to 85 percent. LNG reduces CO2 emissions by approximately 20 percent. LNG is interchangeable with renewable liquefied biogas (bio-LNG or LBG), which means that the two gases can be mixed at any ratio.

Gasum’s biogas is expected to cut carbon emissions on average by 90 percent when compared with traditional fossil fuels. Increasing the use of bio-LNG is one of the concrete actions that will take the shipping industry towards a low-carbon future, the company emphasized.

“Gasum’s strategic goal is to bring seven terawatt hours (7 TWh) of renewable gas yearly to market by 2027. Achieving this goal would mean a yearly cumulative carbon dioxide reduction of 1.8 million tons for Gasum’s customers,” the firm explained.

Last month, the energy company carried out the first LNG bunkering operation in the port of Reykjavik, Iceland.  LNG bunker vessel Coral Energy delivered LNG and liquefied biogas (LBG) to PONANT’s ice-breaking cruise vessel Le Commandant Charcot.