Bomin Linde LNG Charters Bunker Supply Vessel

Germany-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier Bomin Linde LNG has entered into a time-charter contract for the LNG bunker supply vessel with ship owner Bernhard Schulte.

The contract for the vessel, which has a capacity of 7,500 cubic meters, was signed on September 30, 2016.

The vessel is chartered by a joint venture, established in November 2015, in which Bomin Linde LNG holds 90 percent. The remaining 10 percent are held by Klaipėdos Nafta, the owner and operator of the Klaipeda LNG import terminal.

With the commissioning of the LNG bunker supply vessel scheduled for late 2018, Bomin Linde LNG said it will use the ship to supply marine customers and small-scale LNG terminals along the Baltic Sea coast. For Klaipėdos Nafta, the vessel is said to secure an LNG transport service to the company’s onshore LNG reloading station.

According to Mahinde Abeynaike, Chief Executive Officer of Bomin Linde LNG, the share of LNG as a marine fuel is expected to grow in the Baltic Sea over the next few years and for the first time, ship owners and operators will have access to a complete LNG supply chain in the region.

Abeynaike added that The Linde Group, Bomin Linde LNG’s parent company, already operates the LNG terminal in Nynashamn and the smaller LNG bunker supply vessel Seagas in Stockholm.