Spanish trio completes multi-truck to ship LNG bunkering

The shipping company Baleària, CMC Cerezuela and ESK carried out a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering at a speed six times higher than usual average, in the Port of Huelva.

It was the first LNG multi-truck to ship (MTTS) bunkering carried out in Spain, the trio said in its statement.

The operation, in which three tank trailers of LNG were supplied to the smart ship Marie Curie, which is now operating for Baleària and Fred.Olsen Express on the Huelva-Canary Islands route.

The discharge speed was 2.800 l/min, but the objective, after this first test is to reach 3,000 l/min (180 m3/h), which would result in a supply time six times faster compared to the standard truck-to-ship bunkering.

It should be noted that in the case of TTS it is necessary to supply with multiple tank trailers to fully load the tanks of the ship with bigger capacity, a logistical difficulty that adds to the limited mooring times in port of the ships and can be improved by the multi-truck to ship method, the statement reads.

The Marie Curie ferry has two LNG storage tanks with 300 cubic meters capacity and autonomy for 963 miles.

Marie Curie, built at the Italian Cantiere Navale Visentini shipyard is Baleària’s second LNG newbuild.