China’s Keppel Nantong Shipyard launched a liquefied natural gas bunkering vessel for Singapore’s FueLNG, a joint venture between Keppel Offshore & Marine and Shell Eastern Petroleum.
FueLNG commented that the construction of the 7,500-cbm LNG bunkering vessel is “progressing smoothly” and is on schedule to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020. Also, the ship claimed to be Singapore’s first LNG bunkering vessel was moved from land to water on 28 May.
The bunkering vessel will enable the company to be the first in Singapore to provide regular ship-to-ship LNG bunkering services within the Singapore port. It will be managed by Japan’s K-Line as part of a deal signed last year and will be able to run both on LNG and marine diesel oil.
The project is in line with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore to increase the adoption of LNG as a marine fuel in an attempt to position Singapore as a global LNG bunkering hub.
It is stated that the vessel’s key characteristics include high manoeuvrability which enables bunkering without tug assistance, compatibility with a wide range of vessels, as well as propulsion and power management systems that optimise fuel consumption.
