Hutchison Ports BEST receives CMA CGM Scandola LNG vessel

Hutchison Ports BEST, a semi-automated terminal, has welcomed LNG-powered vessel CMA CGM Scandola as the first container ship using LNG to arrive at the Port of Barcelona.

The event took place on 13 April 2021.

CMA CGM Scandola is a 366 metres long, 51 metres wide LNG-fuelled vessel with a capacity of 14,800 twenty-foot equivalent units.

The vessel was built in 2020 in response to the new IMO requirements for the energy transition in the maritime industry, named after the Scandola nature reserve in Corsica Island, Mediterranean Sea.

The ship belongs to the MEX 1 service, connecting Asia to the Mediterranean.

BEST is also working with the Port Authority of Barcelona on several initiatives to improve the sustainability of the terminal. One of those is the Shore Power project, which is to make BEST the first container terminal in Spain to have an electrified quayside. Ships will be able to connect to electric power while loading and unloading containers at the terminal, reducing the carbon footprint in the Port.

Guillermo Belcastro, Hutchison Ports BEST’s CEO, comments: “Today, maritime transport is relatively the most efficient and sustainable mode of freight transport. Shipping lines are already investing heavily in minimising the impact from an environmental point of view and, at BEST, we are aligned with the same objective and ready to receive such ships.”

To remind, in late March CMA CGM Scandola has been fueled with 7,100 cubic metres of LNG by FueLNG Bellina, Singapore’s first LNG bunkering vessel.