Chinese shipbuilder Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering has officially started building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessel for Scale Gas, a unit of Spain’s Enagas.
On October 8, CIMC SOE, a part of CIMC Enric, held a steel-cutting ceremony for the vessel (S1092).
CIMC SOE designed the LNG bunkering ship, which will have a capacity of 12,500 cbm and feature electric propulsion.
The shipbuilder announced this contract in December 2023, but it did not provide the delivery date or the price of the vessel.
Sources said at the time that this vessel would work in the Canary Islands.
In 2022, Enagas said it received funding from the Spanish government to build a bunkering vessel for the supply of LNG and bio-LNG in the Canary Islands.
A unit of Finland’s Wartsila secured a contract to supply a cargo handling system for the LNG bunkering vessel owned by Scale Gas.
The Wartsila equipment is scheduled to be delivered to the yard during the second quarter of 2025.
Scale Gas currently has two LNG bunkering vessels in its fleet.
Last year, marine fuel supplier Peninsula started delivering LNG to vessels in Gibraltar with the 12,500-cbm Levante LNG.
South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo built this vessel for Scale Gas and Peninsula for about $60 million.
In addition, Knutsen, Enagas, and Shell officially launched the 5,000-cbm LNG bunkering ship, Haugesund Knutsen, last year in the Spanish port of Barcelona.
Spain’s Armon Gijon built this LNG bunkering vessel for Knutsen and Scale Gas, and it serves a charter with Shell.
