Ternsund, the new duel-fuel product tanker operated by Swedish tanker owner Terntank, has become the first sea-going vessel to bunker LNG (liquefied natural gas) at the Port of Rotterdam.
The 15,000 dwt chemical tanker arrived in Rotterdam on August 7 to offload naphtha and gas oil at Vopak in the Botlek before moving to the Willem Alexanderhaven terminal the following day for the cooling process. With the aid of nitrogen over 18 hours, Ternsund went from an ambient temperature of +20 °C to an operational temperature of -162 °C to prepare for bunkering which began this morning.
The physical bunkering of Shell LNG, by way of quayside trucks, is scheduled to be completed on Wednesday morning (European time) before the vessel sets sail for Gothenburg.
Ternsund becomes the first vessel to receive The Port of Rotterdam Authority’s “LNG bunkering incentive”, amounting to a 10% discount on seaport dues.
The port authority aggressively attempting to position Rotterdam’s historic port as a major European LNG hub by actively promoting shipping’s admittedly slow transition from fuel oil to cleaner LNG.
“By using LNG, inland vessels, coasters, ferries and heavy transport reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions up to 20 percent and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions up to 85 percent. Sulphur and particulate matter emissions are reduced to practically zero,” Rotterdam Port said.
“This is an important reason for the Port of Rotterdam Authority to encourage the use of LNG.”
The Port of Rotterdam Authority will welcome a new bunker vessel next year which Shell will use to supply sea-going vessels with LNG from the water.
Terntank took delivery of Ternsund from China’s Avic Dingheng Shipbuilding Co in late June. She will be joined by three sisterships of the same specifications – 147mtrs long by 22mtrs beam – by the end of 2017.
The LNG-powered vessel is a result of the EU co-funded project “Into the Future – Baltic SO2lution”, a co-operation between Terntank, marine solutions provider Wärtsilä, fuel and bio-products supplier North European Oil Trade (NEOT) and energy and environmental consultant Wega under the Zero Vision Tool.
Tertank says Ternsund will primarily be deployed to distribute refined oil products from NEOT’s refinery in Gothenburg, Sweden, meeting strict SOx limits in sulfur emission control areas (SECAs) along the way.
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