LNG

Peninsula, the leading global independent marine energy supplier founded to fill a gap in the Gibraltar market for bunkering services and benefitting from the assistance of a refinery across the bay in Algeciras in Spain, has successfully supplied Royal Caribbean’s cruise liner “Silver Nova” with LNG fuel in an operation in Gibraltar.

The supply operation was carried out by Peninsula’s latest addition to its fleet, the LNG bunkering vessel “Levante LNG” with 12,500 cubic metres of capacity.

The “Levante LNG” bunker ship arrived at her Mediterranean home at the end of September and is now fully operational in the Strait of Gibraltar and the ports of the Western Mediterranean.

“We are all very proud of hitting this milestone. This is our first LNG supply in Gibraltar keeping us ahead of the decarbonisation curve and marking our move into the physical space through our joint owned, and operated vessel,” explained John A. Bassadone, Chief Executive of Peninsula.

“My thanks also go to Royal Caribbean for their commitment to Peninsula in further advancing a lower-carbon future together,” Bassadone stated.

Shipping asset

Nacho de Miguel, Peninsula’s Head of Alternative Fuels and Sustainability, said the company’s LNG bunkering services in the West Med are now fully operational.

“Our latest asset is a state-of-the-art, dedicated LNG supply vessel that is providing lower carbon alternatives to the global LNG-powered fleet,” said De Miguel.

“I want to thank Royal Caribbean for trusting in us to supply their 'Silver Nova' and I have no doubt this is only the beginning of our decarbonisation journey together,” he added.

Peninsula was also only recently awarded an LNG Bunkering Operator Licence from the Government of Gibraltar and the Gibraltar Port Authority.

“The ability to operate our LNG vessel in the Strait of Gibraltar will bring lower-carbon solutions to vessels entering and leaving the Mediterranean,” said the company at the time.

“The proactivity of the Gibraltar Port Authority and the Government of Gibraltar will continue to cement the jurisdiction’s position as a leading centre for maritime excellence,” Peninsula said.

Far East fixing

The company operates far beyond Gibraltar as well and at the start of October 2023 Peninsula fixed its first Biofuel deal for one of the world’s largest shipping companies from China.

Cosco Shipping Lines, the Shanghai-based international shipping company, teamed up with Peninsula units in Shanghai and Singapore for a re-fuelling with biofuel.

Peninsula’s Shanghai and Singapore trading teams recently combined to deliver 2,000 tons of UCOME-based B24 marine biofuel to the 155,000 deadweight ton Cosco container carrier, the “CSCL Venus”, through local Singapore physical supplier Vitol Bunkers.

Biofuel demand continues to increase as a result of tighter regulation around maritime carbon emissions.

Oct 10 (LNGJ) - Peninsula, the leading independent global supplier of marine energy, has been granted an LNG Bunkering Operator Licence by the Government of Gibraltar and the Gibraltar Port Authority. The company recently announced the arrival in the Strait of Gibraltar of its purpose-built “Levante LNG” supply vessel with 12,500 cubic metres capacity. The new vessel will be operated by Peninsula and will enable the company to service customers with LNG requirements in both the Gibraltar Strait and other Mediterranean ports.

   “This is very welcome news. I want to thank John Ghio, Captain of the Port of Gibraltar, and The Hon Vijay Daryanani MP, for supporting our licence application and allowing us to continue our decarbonisation,” said John A. Bassadone, Chief Executive of Peninsula. “The ability to operate our LNG vessel in the Strait of Gibraltar will bring lower-carbon solutions to vessels entering and leaving the Mediterranean. The proactivity of the Gibraltar Port Authority and the Government of Gibraltar will continue to cement the jurisdiction’s position as a leading centre for maritime excellence,” Bassadone declared.

Peninsula, the leading global independent marine energy supplier founded to fill a gap in the Gibraltar market for bunkering services and benefitting from the assistance of a refinery across the bay in Algeciras in Spain, has fixed its first Biofuel deal for one of the world’s largest shipping companies from China.

June 7 (LNGJ) - Peninsula, the company founded to fill a gap in the Gibraltar market for bunkering services and benefitting from the assistance of a refinery across the bay in Algeciras in Spain, said it had started physical supply operations on the north end of the Suez Canal as one of the first foreign suppliers for the waterway that sees over 20,000 vessels passing through every year.

   The company was selected by Egypt back in February 2022 as one of the first international companies to be given a licence to function as a bunker supplier at Egypt’s Mediterranean side ports. Peninsula said the region represented a natural extension of Peninsula’s existing physical supply hubs. “We want to thank all the authorities and especially the Egyptian Government for this opportunity to operate in the Suez Canal,” said John A. Bassadone, Chief Executive of Peninsula. “We have been working closely with them for over a year and a half to ensure that we are in a position to build the local bunker market beyond historical levels. Port Said has huge potential for growth,” Bassadone added.

Enagás, the Spanish gas grid and liquefied natural gas terminal network operator, and maritime fuels company Peninsula Petroleum Ltd, have signed a joint venture deal for the building and charter of an LNG bunkering vessel based at the Port of Algeciras to serve the Strait of Gibraltar shipping lanes.

The bunkering vessel with capacity of 12,500 cubic metres will be built at the South Korean Hyundai Mipo Dockyard shipyard and is expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2023.

The vessel will be chartered by Peninsula through an initial seven-year contract. It will load LNG fuel at Enagás regasification terminals, mainly the one at Huelva in southwest Spain.

The Enagás subsidiary called Scale Gas signed the agreement with Peninsula.

The LNG bunkering project will be co-financed by the European Union to the tune of €11 million ($13.3M) as part of the EU Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) transport aid programme.

The financing is available as part of the EU’s support of the development of LNG as a maritime fuel to help avoid sea pollution and to improve air quality in ports.

“The signing of this agreement is in line with Enagás’s commitment to promoting the development of a value chain that allows more efficient and sustainable maritime transport,” said Marcelino Oreja, Chief Executive of Enagás .

John A. Bassadone, the CEO and founder of Peninsula, said the project would serve a growing market and promote cleaner fuel.

“Peninsula and Enagás share the vision of developing the use of LNG as a transitional maritime fuel,” explained Bassadone.

“Having the support of a partner like Enagás is incredibly positive and exciting,” he stated.

Also party to the agreement is the Spanish Port Authority of Algeciras.

“We have been working intensely to promote alternatives to current fuels and developing the use of LNG as a proven technology that is currently available to serve ship owners already asking for LNG in the Port of Algeciras,” said Gerardo Landaluce, President of the Algeciras Port Authority

“Two years after the signing of this agreement, supported by Enagás and along with the co-financing of the European Union, the Bay of Algeciras will have a stable LNG bunkering supply service,” added Landaluce.

Peninsula Petroleum, a leading marine fuels company, teamed up with Petronas Marine of Malaysia to complete its first LNG bunker supply to H-Line Shipping of South Korea in Malaysian waters.