Not only Italy, first LNG bunkers also in Japan and Malaysia

While the first LNG supply from ship to ship was being carried out in Italy in the port of La Spezia to supply the cruise ship Costa Smeralda, Japan and Malaysia also started these supply methods, which are rapidly expanding globally.

In Japan the Kaguya, the first tanker operating in the country, launched in September, became operational at the end of October in the Chubu region. The 3,500 cubic metre LNG ship is owned by Central LNG Marine Fuel Japan, a joint venture of K-line, JERA, Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) and was built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

Kaguya will be based at the Kawagoe Thermal Power Station in Saitama Prefecture, about 460 kilometres east of Kyoto. The refuelling involved the LNG ship Sakura Leader, also christened in September and entered into service a few weeks ago. It is one of the largest pure car and truck carriers, with a capacity of 7,000 TEU, designed to carry Toyota cars and operated by the NYK owner at Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding.

In Malaysia, in early November, the first operation was managed by the state oil company Petronas in the southern state of Johor, with the supply of 1,150 tonnes of LNG from the 7,500 cubic metre supply ship Avenir Advantage, designed by the Italian MES, Trieste. Also in this case the supply involved a vehicle carrier, the Siem Aristotle, and took place in the port of Pasir Gudang.

The Avenir Advantage will provide LNG refuelling and related services to international and domestic ships crossing the Strait of Malacca. Avenir is the international company, led by shipowner Stolt Nielsen, which will manage the Italian coastal depot of Santa Giusta - Oristano, Sardinia, which is nearing completion, and which has a number of tankers under construction that will also operate in the Mediterranean.

"This makes Malaysia one of the few countries able to provide LNG supply services to the maritime industry in the East," said the Malaysia Marine Department. The country is the fourth largest LNG exporter in the world, and has developed the necessary infrastructure to support LNG bunkering since 2017.
The country's bunkering services market is estimated to be at least three times larger than Singapore's, and is valued at 2 billion ringgit, the local currency, at $486.03 million, according to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority.