Five EU port authorities in LNG joint venture

Antwerp, Mannheim, Rotterdam, Strasbourg and Switzerland

(Image Credit: LNG Masterplan.eu)

The port authorities of Antwerp, Mannheim, Rotterdam, Strasbourg and Switzerland signed a joint venture for the introduction of LNG.

This involves cooperation in research, promotion, knowledge transfer, legislation and bunker infrastructure. The agreements follow on from the LNG Master plan of the Rhine-Main-Danube corridor in which all participants are involved. The aim of this master plan is to put liquefied natural gas to full scale use as a fuel for inland shipping on the Rhine-Main-Danube corridor.

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The European Union has provided a subsidy of 40 million to support an LNG infrastructure for the Rhine-Main-Danube area. The Danser Group, supported by the LNG Master plan, has commenced refitting its Eiger-Nordwand tow boat. The engines of this vessel will be powered by LNG for 99%.

LNG in Rotterdam

There has been a special terminal for the storage and handling of liquefied natural gas in the port of Rotterdam since 2011: the Gate terminal. The Argonon and the Greenstream are the first inland vessels powered by LNG which call at the port of Rotterdam. The Municipality of Rotterdam amended the regulations last year so that inland vessels can now also bunker.

The LNG Masterplan

The LNG Masterplan aims to create a platform for the cooperation of authorities and industry stakeholders with the purpose to facilitate the creation of a harmonized European regulatory framework for LNG as fuel and cargo in inland navigation and to promote the introduction of LNG as a fuel and cargo for inland shipping.

The LNG Masterplan not only considers inland navigation to be a pioneer market for LNG as transport fuel but also an enabler to bring LNG cost-effectively from the seaports to the customers (fuel & energy) in major industrial areas along the inland waterways. This facilitates a wide-scale development of LNG as fuel and as energy source.

LNG is considered to be an important opportunity for the inland waterway transport sector, but it certainly will not be a remedy for all the structural and economic problems in IWT. All the work will be based on a realistic and integrated European approach. One of the visions of the LNG Masterplan is that the inland ports on the Rhine-Main-Danube axis will become key distribution centres for LNG.

The LNG Masterplan aims:

Identify and quantify pioneer markets and customers in the inland ports hinterland
Analyse costs and savings/benefits of LNG use
Transfer know-how from maritime into inland navigation sector and raise awareness
Facilitate the creation of a harmonised European regulatory framework considering LNG as fuel and as cargo for inland navigation
Deliver technical concepts for new and retrofitted vessels
Elaborate supply chains to reach end-consumer
Execute pilot deployments of vessels and terminals
Develop a comprehensive strategy with a detailed roadmap for the implementation of LNG in line with the EU policies in transport, energy and environment
Prepare wide-scale deployment with the help of CEF & other EU programs