EN 
it
The first ship to ship refueling of LNG ever in France took place in Marseille on 4 May. The Coral Methane tanker has been involved and has been carrying out this type of operations in the ports of Tenerife and Barcelona for more than a year for the LNG cruise ships of the Carnival Group (the Costa Smeralda, flagship of Costa Cruises, and the Aida Prima).
In this case it was the Costa Smeralda, moored in the Grand Seaport of Marseille due to the health crisis. Coronavirus permitting, the ship climbs weekly, in addition to Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Civitavecchia, La Spezia, departing from Savona, the port of reference for Costa. From the end of May, Cagliari was also expected to climb for 18 weeks.
The LNG was supplied by Shell, linked by a ten-year supply contract with the Carnival Group. Coral Methane, a 7,500 m3 LNG tanker, is being rented by the Dutch shipowner Antony Veder. It usually supplies itself to the LNG depots of Northern Europe and arrives in the Mediterranean every fifteen days after having unloaded about half of the load to Gibraltar to supply the local power plant.
The operation took place under the supervision of the Marine Fire Battalion and the Harbor Master's Office. The port of Marseille-Fos, where there are two LNG regasifiers, aspires to become a hub for maritime LNG supplies. Most of the tankers carrying LNG to service stations and industries in Italy are supplied at the regasifiers in Marseille Fos.
“We are all proud to have been able to complete this operation smoothly and safely. Studies, instructions and procedures were requested to be agreed with the various actors and in line with European and global standards. This shows that even during the current health crisis, we are able to support the development of liquefied gas, implemented by the port of Marseille Fos to reduce the environmental impact" said Amaury de Maupeou, Commander of the Marseille Fos maritime authority.
"Glad that our LNG-powered flagship Costa Smeralda was part of this new milestone for the port of Marseille in collaboration with Shell" added Franco Porcellacchia, vice president of Costa Cruises' Sustainability, Innovation and Infrastructure Office.
Source: Laprovence.com
