Nauticor Sets LNG Bunker Record in Germany
Nauticor has conducted the largest-ever LNG bunkering operation in Germany in the Elbehafen in Brunsbüttel, when it provided DEME Group’s hopper dredger Scheldt River with 85t of LNG in a truck-to-ship operation this week.
Nauticor, a leading provider of LNG for maritime applications, used a bunkering technique where two LNG trucks are unloaded simultaneously, which has been successfully applied several times and allows for significant time savings when conducting a bunker operation. Mahinde Abeynaike, CEO of Nauticor, stated confidently: „Together we have proven once more that the supply of LNG for larger ships in Germany is already a reality. At the end of this year, our new LNG bunker vessel will also be put into operation, which will allow us to conduct faster and more comprehensive bunker operations.”
Scheldt River is currently conducting maintenance dredging works for the water authority Wasserstraßen and Schifffahrtsamt Cuxhaven on the Elbe River between Cuxhaven and Wedel. Additional LNG bunker operations for the vessel in the Elbehafen Brunsbüttel are already planned. For the first time, long-standing demand for LNG as fuel for shipping is being generated along the Lower Elbe between Brunsbüttel and Hamburg.
Carsten Lorleberg, Project Manager for LNG at Brunsbüttel Ports pointed out: „The bunker operation for „Scheldt River“ in the Elbehafen shows that LNG is increasingly establishing itself as an environmentally-friendly fuel alternative, and that LNG bunker operations can be integrated into daily port operations without apprehension. We are proud to have demonstrated again that the Elbehafen has the perfect conditions in place for LNG Press release by Nauticor GmbH & Co. KG and Brunsbüttel Ports GmbH bunkering. This project reflects our dedicated ambition to develop, together with our partners, the industrial area and port of Brunsbüttel as the leading LNG hub for maritime and industrial applications in Germany.”
Brunsbüttel Ports, as well as the responsible administrative authority, the Agency for Coastal Defense, National Parks and Marine Conservation for Schleswig-Holstein (LKN), have substantial experience with the preparation, execution, and approval of LNG loading in the Elbehafen. “The cooperation with the LKN in the preparation of such activities is exemplary”, Lorleberg pointed out. Furthermore, plans for the first German LNG import terminal are taking shape in the port and industrial park at Brunsbüttel. Recently, the companies Gasunie LNG Holding B.V., Oiltanking GmbH, and Vopak LNG Holding B.V. have founded the joint venture ‘German LNG Terminal GmbH’. The purpose of the joint venture is the construction, ownership, and operation of an import terminal for liquefied natural gas in Northern Germany, located at Brunsbüttel.