Kosan Crisplant informed it has on Wednesday premiered its LNG bunkering unit at an event in the Port of Hou, Denmark.
Switching to LNG is one of the means shipowners are looking at to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, since LNG is composed primarily of methane, a greenhouse gas roughly 25 times more potent than CO2, it only takes a minor leak during bunkering to take the overall environmental footprint from light to heavy, Kosan Crisplant said in an emailed statement.
According to the statement, Kosan Crisplant’s bunkering system is designed to ensure that any gas left in the pipes after completion of the bunkering procedure is returned to the tank instead of being released into the atmosphere.
The bunkering unit has been in daily operation since March 2015, refueling the first domestic ferry powered by LNG in Denmark. The ferry, which can also run on biogas, connects the island of Samsoe with the Danish mainland.
Kosan Crisplan also said that the company’s unit has a high bunkering speed. “ The fully automatic bunkering procedure takes only 15 minutes to complete and ensures a high degree of utilization of the LNG fuelled ferry, ” Kosan added.