Chartered by Axpo under a ten-year agreement, the 7,500 cbm capacity vessel was commissioned by G&H Shipping, a joint venture between Gas and Heat, San Giorgio del Porto, and Sofipa, Axpo said in a statement.
In 2023, Axpo announced that it joined forces with Italy’s Gas and Heat and the San Giorgio del Porto shipyard to deploy the small-scale LNG bunkering vessel in Italy.
Axpo and its partners held a ceremony on Thursday in Genoa to mark the official start of Green Pearl’s operations.
The company said that the vessel combines ship-to-ship and ship-to-truck operations, improving speed, flexibility, and reach across regional markets.
STS bunkering services involve the transfer of fuel between vessels, while the ship-to-truck technology on Green Pearl enables LNG to be transferred directly to road tankers.
The vessel combines ship-to-ship and ship-to-truck operations, improving speed, flexibility and reach across regional markets.
Axpo’s head of small-scale LNG, Daniele Corti, said this” innovative vessel is the first of its kind in Europe, and marks the further expansion of our small-scale LNG capabilities in the region.”
“Green Pearl will support the growing demand in the Mediterranean for flexible and efficient bunkering solutions, Corti said.
In March last year, Axpo completed its first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation with its chartered 7,500-cbm LNG bunkering and supply vessel, Avenir Aspiration.
Axpo bunkered MSC’s LNG dual-fuel containership in the Spanish port of Malaga.
In August last year, Axpo joined forces with Spain’s Enagas to complete what it says is Spain’s first ship-to-ship bio-LNG bunkering operation at the port of Algeciras in the large container shipping industry.
Avenir Aspiration delivered over 4,000 cbm of ISCC-certified bio-LNG to the LNG dual fuel container vessel CMA CGM Fort Bourbon.
