On 11 December 2018, the world’s largest LNG bunker supply vessel ‘Kairos’ has started operations in Northwest Europe. Chartered by Blue LNG, a joint venture of the Hamburg-based LNG supplier Nauticor with a 90% share and the Lithuanian energy infrastructure provider Klaipėdos Nafta (KN) with a 10% share, the ship was handed over by the owner Babcock Schulte Energy in the port of Klaipeda.
With the handover of ‘Kairos’ we are securing the supply of LNG as a marine fuel in the Baltic Sea on a large-scale basis…From now on, also large vessels can bunker LNG in the Baltic Sea,
…underlined Mahinde Abeynaike, CEO of Nauticor.
The construction of the vessel started in 2016 when the joint venture signed a time charter agreement with ship owner Babcock Schulte Energy. In February 2018, a steel cutting took place at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in Ulsan, South Korea. The vessel started its voyage from South Korea to its primary area of operation in Northwest Europe, to Port of Klaipėda, Lithuania, on 17 October.
Under the plans, Kairos will be deployed to the Baltic region servicing also a number of other terminals, including the Linde/AGA terminal in Nynäshamn, performing both ship-to-ship (STS) bunkering and transshipment operations of LNG to ferries, containers, cruise ships and other shore-based gas consumers.
With a tank capacity of 7,500 m³, the ‘Kairos’ is the world’s largest LNG bunker supply vessel. The ice class vessel has several other unique features, including the ballast-free design and installation of a CNG tank to store vapour return gas from customer vessels.
