Swedish shipping company Terntank became the first operator to take on LNG and liquefied biogas (LBG) at the new bunkering facility at the Port of Gothenburg, on 27 November. Not only liquefied natural gas, LNG, but also liquefied biogas, LBG.
Freight volumes at the Port of Gothenburg increased during 2018, as container traffic, car figures and energy product flows all increased, when compared to the same time last year. As a matter of fact, container traffic increased by 20% compared with the last year.
The construction of a new terminal in the outer area of the Port of Gothenburg has started. Phase 1 started with piling earlier in the week. The 220,000 square metre terminal will be constructed using dredge spoils contained by an embankment, and is scheduled to be completed around 2025.
During the first six months of 2018, container volumes at the Port of Gothenburg increased by 19%, from 318,000 to 378,000 TEUs. The number of cars and intra-European ro-ro units shipped increased by 10 and 4% respectively, while the energy segment fell by 3%.
The Port of Gothenburg has started replanting 1.7 hectares of eelgrass beds to compensate for the eelgrass that will disappear while the port is building a new terminal. It is the largest replantion of eelgrass ever in Sweden. Eelgrass test plantings have now commenced in two locations just outside port area.
In 2015 the Port of Gothenburg firstly introduced an environmental discount on the port tariff in order to increase the number of calls by ships running on LNG. The Port is now extending the discount period and is outlining a renewed environmental discount. Vessels with good environmental performance receive a 10% discount on the port tariffs.
During June 25, the first-ever bunkering of liquefied biogas in Sweden, took place at the Port of Gothenburg. ‘Fure Vinga’ received 40 cubic metres of LBG directly from a road tanker. This LBG bunkering was the second ever globally, and took place without an incident. LBG can be used in vessels that are using LNG.
Demand for LNG as a marine fuel has grown at Port of Gothenburg and the port has now announced that it increases the range of LNG bunkering options, with the smart energy infrastructure company Swedegas currently constructing a permanent LNG facility at the Energy Port, to become operational in August.
On June 2, the Swedish Minister for Infrastructure Thomas Eneroth announced the government’s decision to proceed with the deepening of the fairways at the Port of Gothenburg. This will allow larger vessels to call at the Port of Gothenburg fully loaded. The new project will increase the maximum depth of the fairways from 13.5 metres to about 16 metres.
The Swedish port of Gothenburg issued its sustainability report for 2017 analyzing how it worked in the past year on steady improvements to reduce the operation’s environmental footprint, under its annual environmental plan, which is based on the City of Gothenburg’s environmental programme.
