In cooperation with the towing company, Rimorchiatori Riuniti Panfido the Northern Adriatic Sea Port Authority is looking into the possibility of developing an LNG bunkering barge that would be based at the Venice LNG terminal.
The international regulations coming into force in 2020 with the global sulphur content of marine fuels to be capped at 0.5 percent have increased interest in liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel.
Italy passed a legislative in January 2017 aiming to reduce the country’s dependency on oil and the negative effects from the transport sector and that an adequate number of LNG bunkering infrastructure is installed in the Italian ports by 2025.
Market players planning on implementing the legislature have been supported by Italy’s ministry of economic development that has already established the legal framework for the infrastructure development.
According to the port of Venice, demand for liquefied natural gas by 2030 could reach 873,000 tons per year 19.7 percent of which will be dedicated to marine transport with the majority being used up by road transport (73 percent).
The project has received European Union’s backing through the GAINN4MOS project that aims to improve the Motorways of the Sea network in six of the project member states including Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia. The construction of the LNG terminal in the port of Venice is also in line for EU funding through its Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) as well as the European Investment Bank (EIB).