Fluxys: Nine LNG Carriers Unloaded at Zeebrugge in Q1

Fluxys Belgium said that in the first three months of the year, nine carriers were unloaded and five were loaded at the Zeebrugge LNG import terminal. This compares with eight and five carriers respectively in the same period last year. 

Truck loading services peak – Take-up of truck-loading services continues to rise, with 363 trucks loading at the terminal in the first quarter of 2014 compared with 126 in the same period last year. Over 1,900 loadings have been booked for the year as a whole, compared with 819 last year.

LNG filling station in Veurne – In February 2014, parent company Fluxys decided to build an LNG truck filling station this year in Veurne on the premises of haulage company Eric Mattheeuws, which has purchased a fleet of LNG trucks. The initiative is a milestone in the launch of LNG as a sustainable alternative fuel for trucks in Belgium: as a pilot installation it serves as an example for other investors to venture into building LNG filling stations as well.

Possible additional transshipment services – In April 2014, Yamal LNG and parent company Fluxys signed an agreement outlining the parameters of cooperation on the possible transshipment at Zeebrugge of LNG supplied from the production plant being built on the Yamal Peninsula in Russia. The transshipment platform in Europe will be an integral part of the logistical chain enabling LNG supply from Yamal to reach the Asian-Pacific countries when winter navigation is closed at the Arctic Ocean’s Northern Sea Route, thus ensuring year-round LNG supplies to this region.

If Fluxys Belgium succeeds in attracting LNG transshipment operations to the Zeebrugge terminal, this would be an important project for the company itself and for the port of Zeebrugge. It would bring considerable investment to the terminal, link the facility to an additional source of LNG and entail a significant volume of ship movements.