The Dutch port of Rotterdam is introducing an additional incentive to bunker liquefied natural gas (LNG) through which seagoing vessels will benefit from a 10% discount on gross seaport dues.
Rotterdam has reserved a total of EUR 1.5 million (USD 1.6 million) for this incentive, which is expected to apply until 2020.
“In addition to the new incentive, the Port of Rotterdam Authority is also supporting the Environmental Ship Index and the Green Award by offering ships incentives,” the port said.
In total, these measures mean that the port will be providing up to EUR 2 million (USD 2.1 million) in incentives to encourage sustainable shipping annually.
“The Port Authority’s intention is to encourage the bunkering of LNG at the port and thereby support the shipping sector and parties like Shell and Gate, which explicitly promote the use of LNG. In the meantime, shipping company Containerships has stated that it will operate and bunker two LNG vessels in Rotterdam from 2017,” the port authority said.
In early December 2015, the South Korean STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Company started building the LNG bunker vessel that Shell will operate in the port of Rotterdam.
It is expected that Shell will begin using the first LNG bunker vessel in the port of Rotterdam in early 2017.