Estonian energy company Eesti Gaas has placed an order for a 6,000 cbm liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker vessel with Dutch shipyard group Damen.
The new vessel is intended for LNG-fueled vessels in the North-East region of the Baltic Sea, and it will be delivered in September 2020.
“The vessel will load LNG in the Baltic Sea region terminals for distribution in the Baltic area. The vessel will predominantly operate in the Gulf of Finland area, which has a clear need to move towards clean energy supply,” said Ain Hanschmidt, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eesti Gaas.
Eesti Gaas will operate the bunker vessel under a long-term charter from its parent company and owner of the vessel, Infortar AS. The technical management for the vessel will be provided by Tallink Grupp.
“Since 2016, Eesti Gaas has expanded its LNG transport and bunkering capacity by entering into a long-term LNG bunker contract with Tallink whose experience with LNG over the last few years and technical expertise has been extremely valuable in developing the technical concept of the new bunker vessel. Today we are the biggest LNG bunker service provider in the region and a key promoter of LNG as clean marine fuel,” said Margus Kaasik, Member of the Management Board of Eesti Gaas.
The bunker vessel will feature dual-fuel engines, thrusters that facilitate enhanced close-quarters manoeuvring and ice class 1A, according to the Finnish-Swedish ice-class regulations. This will allow the ship to operate all year round, including in the region’s challenging ice conditions.
The new LNG-powered vessel will be capable of carrying out bunker activities both in ports and outside ports, at designated anchorage points.
The project is co-funded by the EU through the CEF Transport program.