Bureau Veritas on Wednesday said it has supported the recent ship-to-ship bunkering operation carried out at the entrance to the port of Gothenburg.
According to a statement by the classification society, the STS bunkering of Terntank Rederi’s Ternsund from Coral Energy, a Dutch small scale LNG vessel owned by Antony Veder and chartered by Skangas, was the first such operation between two independent ocean-going vessels.
The 15,000-dwt Ternsund is the world’s first LNG-fuelled newbuilding oil/chemical tanker, built under BV class at Avic Dingheng, China and delivered to Terntank at the end of June 2016.
Coral Energy, with a capacity of 15,600-cbm, which was also built to BV class, has been delivered to its owner in 2013.
“Last week’s operation is the first time ever that a cryogenic fuel has been ship-to-ship bunkered. It opens the way for ship-to-ship bunkering around the world, as unlike a fixed LNG terminal, the bunker vessel is not dependent on location, and can offer LNG as fuel to any receiving vessel,” Jean-François Segretain , technical director, marine & offshore division at Bureau Veritas said.
He noted that Bureau Veritas has set the dedicated rules and participated in the development of international guidelines that encourage the adoption od LNG as fuel.
Segretain added that the first STS bunkering operation is set to be followed by other LNG ocean-going bunker vessels classed by Bureau Veritas, including Engie’s bunker vessel set to operate from Zeebrugge, and a “Sirius Veder Gas new bunker vessel under construction at Dutch shipyard Royal Bodewes.”