The SIMOPS LNG ship-to-ship operation was the first ever to be conducted by Wes Amelie and Kairos; Yet, both vessels have already conducted their first LNG ship-to-ship operation at anchorage in front of Visby, Sweden, in April 2019.
The LNG transfer between the two vessels marks a milestone, as it is the first LNG ship-to-ship operation for port of Helsinki and for a a container vessel in the Baltic Sea in general.
In light of the event, Hans Staal, Head of Bunker Procurement of Unifeeder, commented
The first SIMOPS LNG ship-to-ship transfer at a container terminal for the “Wes Amelie” was a great success, due to the smooth cooperation between the crews on board of the LNG bunker vessel and the receiving vessel, the terminal and port operators, the Nauticor experts and our bunker team here at Unifeeder.
In the meantime, Lydia Glabisch, Operations Manager at Nauticor added that LNG bunkering is as efficient and uncomplicated as bunkering conventional fuels, mostly when conducted through ship-to-ship operations.
The use of LNG, sulphur and carbon dioxide emissions are crucially decreased, a goal that the Port of Helsinki aims to achieve, to become greener and more sustainable. As Andreas Slotte, Head of Sustainable Development at the Port of Helsinki noted, the Port aims to facilitate the use of more environmentally friendly alternatives to oil-based fuels.
Kairos is the world’s largest LNG bunker supply vessel, and was named in in Hamburg, Germany, on February 8, 2019. It is owned by Babcock Schulte Energy (BSE) and chartered by Nauticor.
