World’s Largest LNG Bunker Supply Vessel Starts Operations

The world’s largest LNG bunker supply vessel Kairos started operations in Northwest Europe on December 11, 2018.

Chartered by Blue LNG, a joint venture of the Hamburg-based LNG supplier Nauticor with a 90% share and the Lithuanian energy infrastructure provider KN with a 10% share, the ship was handed over by the owner Babcock Schulte Energy in the port of Klaipeda.

“With the handover of Kairos we are securing the supply of LNG as a marine fuel in the Baltic Sea on a large-scale basis,” Mahinde Abeynaike, CEO of Nauticor, said, adding that marine customers would be able to benefit from a fast and safe LNG ship-to-ship supply.

“From now on, also large vessels can bunker LNG in the Baltic Sea.”

The construction of the vessel started in 2016 when the joint venture signed a time-charter agreement with ship owner Babcock Schulte Energy. In February 2018, steel cutting took place at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in Ulsan, South Korea, and in October 2018 the vessel was delivered by the shipyard.

With a tank capacity of 7,500 m³, Kairos is the world’s largest LNG bunker supply vessel. The ice class vessel features the ballast-free design and installation of a CNG tank to store vapour return gas from customer vessels.