Western Baltic Engineering, the engineering company of Estonia’s BLRT Grupp, has developed the technical specification and concept design for a green methanol bunkering vessel destined for the Port of Klaipėda in Lithuania.
The 69.36-meter-long vessel will have a cargo capacity of up to 800 tons of green methanol and is designed for operations in shallow waters and local bunkering routes.
At full operational capacity, it will be capable of supplying up to 250,000 tons of fuel annually.
According to BLRT Grupp, this is Western Baltic Engineering’s first concept developed specifically for green methanol bunkering.
Previously, together with BLRT Grupp’s shipyard Western Baltija Shipbuilding and the Estonian shipbuilder Baltic Workboats, Western Baltic Engineering designed and built the 42-meter hydrogen- and electric-powered waste collection vessel RASA for the Port of Klaipėda.
The announcement comes after the European Investment Bank (EIB) approved approximately €100 million in financing to support the energy transition, among other things, at the port. The €201 million project targets the modernization and expansion of the core Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), with a focus on investments in port infrastructure and operations to strengthen maritime transport and logistics, enable offshore renewable energy deployment, and provide logistical support for allied military vessels.
The financing was approved on April 23, with the deal signed on July 8.