Singapore’s first LNG bunkering ship FueLNG Bellina, owned by Keppel Offshore & Marine and Shell, has wrapped up another operation.
The newest client is the LNG-powered oil tanker Pacific Emerald, the first of ten newbuild Aframax tankers chartered by Shell Tankers Singapore, a unit of Shell, from South Korea’s Sinokor Petrochemical.
FueLNG Bellina on Friday completed the gas-up and cool down operation for the LNG-powered tanker, including the transfer of 3,000 cbm of LNG, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and FuelLNG said in a joint statement.
This marked the first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation for an oil tanker in the Port of Singapore, Quah Ley Hoon, chief executive of MPA, said.
“Today marks another milestone in Singapore’s journey as an LNG bunkering hub. We see increased interest in LNG-fueled vessels with more of such new vessels on order across various ship types. We look forward to an increase in uptake of LNG as a marine fuel in the Port of Singapore,” the CEO said.
This fueling follows the completion of Asia’s first ship-to-containership LNG bunkering operation by FueLNG in March.
The JV recently also provided fuel with the bunkering ship to the world’s largest LNG-powered vessel, CMA CGM Jacques Saade.
The bunkering of the Aframax oil tanker is a demonstration of the FueLNG Bellina’s “versatile capabilities” to provide LNG bunker and conduct the gas-up and cool down operation for receiving vessels with different types of cargo tanks such as Type B and GTT membrane tanks, the joint statement said.
FueLNG aims to provide a total of about 30 to 50 ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operations in 2021.
Besides the Aframax tankers, FueLNG has also lined up bunkering operations for containerships, chemical oil tankers, and bulk carriers.
