Shell charters LNG bunker barge for US market

Shell Trading (US), a unit of the Hague-based energy giant Shell, has finalized a long-term charter agreement with Q-LNG Transport for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barge.

The barge will have the capacity to carry 4,000 cubic meters of LNG fuel.

As the first of its kind to be based in the United States, the ocean-going LNG bunker barge will supply LNG to marine customers along the southern East Coast of the US and support growing cruise line demand for LNG marine fuel, Shell said on Tuesday.

Speaking of the charter deal, Maarten Wetselaar, Integrated Gas and New Energies Director at Shell said the investment “builds on Shell’s existing LNG bunkering activities in Singapore and Europe, as well as recently announced plans in the Middle East.” 

The LNG bunker barge will be owned and built by Q-LNG Transport and operated by New Orleans-based marine transportation company Harvey Gulf International Marine.

A growing number of ship owners and operators are choosing LNG fuel over traditional marine fuels to respond to sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions regulations, including the International Maritime Organization’s recent decision to implement a global 0.5 percent sulphur cap in 2020.

Shell is betting big on LNG fuel. The company has earlier this year launched its Cardissa bunker vessel with a capacity of around 6,500 cubic meters to facilitate ship-to-ship transfer, and deliver LNG from the Dutch Gate terminal in Rotterdam.

Additionally, the company’s unit Shell Western LNG finalised a long-term agreement with a joint venture between Victrol and CFT to charter an LNG bunker barge with a capacity to carry 3,000 cubic metres of LNG fuel. This vessel will also be based in Rotterdam and will provide bunkering services to vessels operating on Europe’s inland waterways.

Shell has also signed several deals to supply the chilled fuel to various LNG-powered vessels and the company has joined forces with Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Maritime and state-owned Qatar Petroleum to boost the use of LNG as fuel.

LNG World News Staff