The M.V. Greenland, a 110-metre cement carrier operated by the Norwegian shipping company KGJ Cement AS, was the vessel bunkered in coordination with the shipping agent Sartori & Berger. To make this possible, the natural gas cooled down to a temperature of -160 degrees was transported to Rostock by road tanker.
Located on the Baltic Sea, Rostock has been using the past months to position itself as a port where ships can be fueled with environmentally friendly LNG. GAZPROM Germania, Rostock Port and the local regulatory authority have worked out the legal and operative framework necessary to conduct corresponding bunkering operations. On 27 February 2016, Germany’s largest Baltic Sea port demonstrated that it is capable of bunkering ships with LNG. In the early hours of the morning, a ship was supplied with liquefied natural gas for the first time ever in the southern Baltic Sea.
“We believe there is a great deal of potential in the maritime sector. Climate-friendly natural gas could replace thousands of tonnes of heavy fuel oil every year”, points out Timo Vehrs, Director of Business Development at GAZPROM Germania GmbH. “We have now taken a crucial first step in Rostock, where this bunkering operation has shown that the vision of using LNG as bunker fuel has already become a reality.”
In 2014, GAZPROM Group signed a memorandum of understanding with Rostock Port on cooperating in the LNG market. This cooperation focuses on the development, marketing, and usage of LNG in road transport and shipping in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.