LNG

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Conrad Shipyard have secured Approval in Principle (AIP) from the American Bureau of Shipping for the basic design of a US-built LNG bunkering barge.

The global fleet of LNG-fuelled could almost double from its current base of 850 ships if scheduled deliveries and orders proceed as expected, Shell told investors, projecting LNG bunkering demand to jump from 3-4 mtpa to about 26 mtpa by 2035.

LNG industry coalition, SEA\LNG, has expanded its US membership network by welcoming Houston-based Stabilis Energy to its ranks.
 
Peter Keller, Chairman, SEA\LNG, commented: “Welcoming Stabilis Energy as a new member demonstrates SEA\LNG’s continued commitment within the ever expanding North American LNG market. LNG is growing in importance in both the energy and marine bunkering markets. Stabilis operates at the forefront of this expansion.”
 
Stabilis Energy provides small-scale LNG production, distribution and fuelling services to multiple end markets in North America. It owns and operates a liquefaction and storage facility in George West, Texas, as well as a fleet of over 150 cryogenic rolling stock equipment pieces throughout North America. Stabilis supplies LNG for use in the industrial, mining, energy, utility, pipeline, and transportation end markets, as well as marine bunkering services. 

Jim Reddinger, Stabilis Energy President and CEO, said: “LNG is an increasingly important part of the marine bunkering infrastructure throughout North America and across the globe. We specialise in producing LNG and delivering it to its last port of call, as it were, where it is ready for transfer to ocean-going vessels. As members of SEA\LNG we look forward to supporting this integral part of the growing LNG bunkering network throughout North America and beyond.”
 
To help fund growth plans and operating presence, as well as investments in LNG production and distribution, Stabilis recently completed a number of initiatives, including a public listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange (ticker symbol: SLNG), investment from Chart Industries and two strategic transactions in Mexico.
 
Keller added: “Communication and collaboration across the LNG value chain is essential to breaking down barriers to the adoption of LNG as an important and economically viable marine fuel. It is encouraging to see Stabilis Energy engaging with its partners to strengthen the small-scale LNG network. We look forward to working with them to expand LNG bunkering infrastructure in the Americas.”
 

UK maritime classification Lloyd’s Register has given approval in principle to Hyundai Mipo Dockyard of South Korea for a cargo-handling system design for a 6,600 cubic metres capacity LNG bunkering vessel.

Royal Dutch Shell moved to keep Northwest Europe at the forefront of the liquefied natural gas bunkering market by signing an agreement to fuel Russian-owned crude oil carriers from 2018.

The American Bureau of Shipping, the US classification society, has issued its latest report on LNG maritime fueling standards in regard to the design, construction and surveying of bunkering systems on board vessels.

The German Baltic port of Rostock has carried out its first liquefied natural gas fueling operation involving a ship owned by a Norwegian-Swedish joint venture and the Russian natural gas company Gazprom as the fuel supplier.

New Orleans-based Harvey Gulf International Marine has contracted Wärtsilä to supply a control system for shore-based LNG fuelling facility in Port Fourchon, Louisiana.

Jul 22 - Belgium's Port of Antwerp is calling for tenders to design and build a new LNG bunkering station for barges. The new design must enable trucks, as well as barges, to fill up with LNG at a permanent bunkering station at the port from 2016.

The project will be partly subsidized by the LNG Master Plan for the Rhine-Main-Danube, as Antwerp Port Authority is partnering with Basel, Mannheim, Rotterdam and Strasbourg.