LNG

The Japanese-French European LNG bunkering joint venture of Mitsubishi Corp, NYK Line and the utility Engie has signed a firm deal to sell fuel for LNG-powered crude oil shuttle tankers owned by Norwegian energy company Equinor.

Equinor’s deal is for bunkering for four shuttle tankers, mainly in the Dutch port of Rotterdam.

Equinor, which itself operates the Hammerfest LNG production plant in northern Norway, said its vessels are scheduled to enter service in early 2020 and will operate in Northwest European waters within an Emission Control Area covering the Baltic and the North Sea.

The vessels also enter operations at the start of the global sulfur cap being introduced from 2020 under International Maritime Organization rules.

The Japanese-French maritime fueling venture for LNG, known as “Gas4Sea”, has operated with one bunkering vessel called “Engie Zeebrugge” since 2017.

The 5,000 cubic metres capacity ship is based in the Belgian port of Zeebrugge where it performs ship-to-ship bunkering operations.

The first customer of the Engie-led bunkering venture was United European Car Carriers (UECC) for several LNG-powered vessels it operates.

“Gas4Sea is a commercial brand to develop the use of LNG as a sustainable, reliable, safe and cost-effective alternative to conventional oil-based marine fuels,” said Engie.

“Its purpose and ambition is to accompany the shipping sector in the upcoming transition towards a greener maritime environment, in Europe and worldwide,” added the French company.

Four Japanese companies have formed two joint ventures to develop the LNG bunkering market in the ports of Japan, similar to operations started in the northwest European ports of Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Zeebrugge in Belgium.