Finnish shipping company Containerships, part of French CMA CGM group, said its first LNG-fueled container vessel Containerships Nord completed its first LNG bunkering at the Port of Rotterdam.
Around 240 metric tons of LNG was bunkered to the vessel, Containerships said that the supplied volumes are sufficient to fuel the vessel on its roundtrip from Rotterdam to St. Petersburg and back sailing through the Kiel canal twice.
The first bunkering was carried out at lay bay berth in a ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation from Shell’s bunker vessel, the Cardissa.
In future, the bunkering will be carried out at a normal operational berth simultaneously with loading and discharging operations, Containerships said.
Containerships Nord started sailing from China towards Europe in Mid-December and reached the European waters after passing the Suez Canal after two and half weeks sailing. The three sister vessels will follow the same route after their delivery later this year.
“After receiving the next two newbuilds, Containerships can start offering its customers a service based on LNG in large extent. These vessels are capable of running for 14 days on LNG, and they will be bunkered once per roundtrip during their regular service loop between Containerships’ core ports in the North and Baltic Seas,” the statement reads.
As part of the agreement signed by Containerships and Shell, Shell will supply the LNG for Containerships’ LNG vessels via ship-to-ship bunkering at the Port of Rotterdam. All the newbuilds will be bunkered by Shell bunker vessels, including the Cardissa.