ESL Hires Nauticor to Supply LNG for Its New Bulkers

Finnish shipping company ESL Shipping and Hamburg-based Nauticor have signed a long-term contract for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the port of Oxelösund in Sweden.

Under the deal, Nauticor will provide the environmentally friendly fuel for ESL Shipping’s 2018-built handy size bulk carriers, Haaga and Viikki.

The 25,532 dwt vessels, the first of their kind to use LNG, started operations in the Baltic Sea region in October 2018, the company informed.

They are equipped with ice class 1A and can operate under the most difficult weather conditions, ESL Shipping said, adding that the new ships will predominantly be used for the transport of raw materials between various ports in the Baltic Sea and North Sea.

“The new vessels combine innovative hull design, the use of LNG as fuel and other energy saving measures, thereby reduce emission significantly and make shipping even more sustainable. We are glad that we can offer this environmental-friendly mode of transport to our customers with the supply of LNG in the port of Oxelösund being secured by Nauticor,” Mikki Koskinen, Managing Director of ESL, said.

Nauticor’s new 7,500 cbm LNG bunker supply vessel Kairos will play a crucial role in the development of the tailor-made supply chain for the two vessels. The company added that it will closely cooperate with its sister company AGA operating the Linde Group’s LNG terminal in Nynäshamn, Sweden.