LNG

The owners of the small-scale LNG import terminal and fuelling facility at the Port of Ravenna in northeast Italy have formally entered commercial service as the first LNG fuel-dedicated port under the European Union's clean fuel policies.

Oct 13 (LNGJ) - Italian utility Edison and Knutsen OAS Shipping of Norway have held a naming ceremony at the northeast Italian port of Ravenna for the 30,000 cubic metres capacity LNG carrier, “Ravenna Knutsen”. The vessel will serve a small-scale LNG import terminal joint venture at the port.

   The terminal will supply at least 12,000 trucks and up to 48 ferries per annum with LNG fuel. Edison and Spain’s gas grid operator Enagás are shareholders in the Italian facility and are cooperating on developing small-scale LNG use in the Mediterranean region of both Italy and Spain. “The vessel is pivotal in the first integrated small-scale LNG logistics chain in Italy, which Edison has built to promote the decarbonisation of maritime and heavy transport,” said Edison.

Spanish LNG terminal owner and network operator Enagás said the keel-laying had taken place of the first liquefied natural gas bunkering vessel to be built in a Spanish shipyard.

The construction is taking place at the Armon Shipyard in the northwest Spanish port of Gijón. The yard was founded in 1963 and is now one of the leading private shipbuilders in the European Union.

“Once operational, the ship will use the Enagás LNG terminal in the Port of Barcelona for the loading and subsequent supply of LNG to ships that berth in the port or make stops to refuel before continuing their route,” explained Enagás

The formal keel-laying ceremony took place at the yard, attended by executives involved in the project, including the Enagás subsidiary Scale Gas and Knutsen OAS Shipping, the Norwegian fleet operator and owner of the bunkering newbuild.

The ship will have an LNG storage capacity of 5,000 cubic metres, be 92.75 metres in length with a beam of 16.90 metres and draught of 4.25 metres.

The vessel will itself be powered by LNG fuel and will comply with all safety measures, as established by the different regulations.

The project is also being supported by the Port of Barcelona, which is keen to be part of the Mediterranean LNG fuel hub for shipping.

“The bunkering initiative is framed within the European Union's funding programme for transport, Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which has approved €9 million ($10.7M) for its implementation,” said Enagás.

While Knutsen will own the vessel and Enagás will host the ship at the Barcelona terminal, the supply of the LNG for bunkering will be guaranteed by Shell Spain.

“Shell plans to double its existing LNG bunkering infrastructure on key international trade routes by the mid-2020s and this vessel will play an important role in that journey,” explained Enagás.

Enagás noted that Shell completed the first LNG ship-to-ship bunkering in Barcelona in 2019 and said it was looking forward to working with the partners on this project.

“In addition to promoting more sustainable maritime transport and improving air quality in the city of Barcelona, this project will be a further step to consolidate Spain and the Port of Barcelona as European LNG bunkering locations,” stated Enagás.

The Norwegian-owned LNG carrier, “La Mancha Knutsen”, was sailing southeast in the Gulf of Mexico with the first commissioning cargo from the new third processing Train at Cheniere Energy’s LNG export plant at Corpus Christi in Texas.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French technology firm for designs of systems for the maritime transportation and storage of liquefied natural gas, has renewed and expanded a global Technical Services Agreement (TSA) with the Norwegian shipowner Knutsen OAS Shipping and its growing LNG fleet.

Knutsen OAS Shipping, the Norwegian LNG and tanker fleet owner with more than 30 vessels, has chosen Dutch-based AkzoNobel to supply marine coatings for its latest newbuilds from the South Korean shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Two more Knutsen vessels have received hull coatings from AkzoNobel’s high-performance Intershield 300 and Intersleek foul-release products.

AkzoNobel, the global paint and coatings supplier whose brands include Dulux paints, said another two recent newbuilt Knutsen LNG carriers received the coatings. They are the “Adriano Knutsen”, which has already left the shipyard, and the “Rias Baixas Knutsen” whose delivery is imminent.

The Knutsen LNG fleet now numbers 13 vessels with delivery of the newbuilds.

“Knutsen has used Intershield 300 on our vessels for a long time,” said Oliver Smith, Project Manager of the shipping company.

“The reason Knutsen applied Intershield 300 on our new LNGs is because we knew that in the long term, we were able to benefit from the lower maintenance cost,” explained Smith.

“When we have inspected the ballast tanks every five years for our vessels in service having Intershield 300, the number of repairs has been very minimal,” Smith added.

Intersleek was the industry’s first biocide-free foul release coating when it was released in 1996 and provides complete fouling prevention to the hulls of vessels prior to and after dry-docking.

“We’re delighted that our high-performing marine coatings were selected for Knutsen’s latest LNG vessels and proud that our experience and capability in coatings for LNG continues to be recognized,” said Jean-Michel Gauthier, Director of AkzoNobel’s Marine and Protective Coatings business.

Knutsen’s Smith said that the fuel consumption after five years as compared to year one (initial application of Intersleek) is maintained.

“This high performance also keeps future dry-docking costs down. After five years in service, the vessel had to only have one full finish coat applied instead of having to apply a full scheme,” said Smith.

“Knutsen has experienced the formation of green slime due to short lay-up and waiting periods. However, after sailing to the next port of call, the green slime was completely released, saving on any hull cleaning services at the port,” he added.