• 26 Mar 2019

Between 13th and 18th of March 2019, the Polish oil and gas companies PGNiG and LOTOS completed two commercial bunkering operation of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the first operations of this kind carried out at seaports in Gdańsk and Gdynia.

With the first bunkering operation, 54 tonnes of LNG fuel (32,000 Nm3 of natural gas) were injected into tanks of the oil/chemical tanker "Fure Valo" built in 2018, belonging to the Swedish shipowner Furetank Rederi AB, who plans to further develop its LNG-powered fleet and to extend it to six such vessels by the end of the year.

The second bunkering process took place on March 18th at Gdynia seaport, where 18 tonnes of LNG fuel (10,800 Nm3) from a single tanker truck were loaded into tanks of the "Ireland" vessel, a Cement Carrier built in 2016 for the joint venture JT Cement, between the Swedish Erik Thun AB and the Norwegian shipowner KG Jebsen Cement (KGJ).

Henryk Mucha, President of PGNiG Retail Branch:

"I am glad we made the first fully commercial bunkering of ships with LNG in Poland. This is a milestone in the development of this market in Polish seaports, which will significantly increase their competitiveness. I would like to emphasize particularly the model cooperation in the bunkering of ships with both the Port of Gdańsk and the Port of Gdynia"

Meanwhile, Cezary Godziuk, President of the Management Board of LOTOS Asfalt added:

"The cooperation of Grupa LOTOS and PGNiG has been going on for many years. PGNiG is a natural gas supplier to Grupa LOTOS and Grupa LOTOS uses this fuel for refining of crude oil. Cooperation is very successful. Both companies take advantage of their experience & knowledge about the marine fuel market on one hand, and specifics of LNG on the other"

PGNiG imports LNG to Poland from Qatar, Norway and the USA through the President Lech Kaczyński LNG Terminal in Świnoujście. According to the directive on the development of alternative fuels infrastructure, by the end of 2025 at the latest, a sufficient number of LNG bunkering points should be created in Poland seaports of  Gdańsk, Gdynia, Szczecin and Świnoujście. 

Source: PGNiG