In Spain, the fishing fleet will gain competitiveness and environmental efficiency through the use of LNG as marine fuel, supplied by trucks departing from the Ferrol galician port of Ferrol port to supply the vessels.
This opportunity has been highlighted by Reganosa Director of Development, Rodrigo Díaz Ibarra, in a paper presented at the Conference on “LNG as a maritime fuel” in Navalia, the International Shipbuilding Fair of Vigo (May 25, 2016). Reganosa is one of the main gas infrastructure operators in Spain with a leading position and experience in the distribution of LNG by tanker trucks to the industry: in 2015 more than 7,000 tanks loaded on its Ferrol port facilities were delivered to 140 different places in the Northwest Iberian.
In a roundtable focused on the Galician fishing fleet, Díaz Ibarra has given emphasis on the fact that while large ships need to be preferably supplied through another LNG bunkering ship, fishing vessels may be supplied by tanker trucks at any port in Galicia, thanks to a project being developed together with Gas Natural Fenosa and the Xunta de Galicia.
Representatives of MAN Diesel & Turbo, Wärtsilä, Energylab, Bureau Veritas and Lloyd’s Register also participated to the conference, and Cotenaval presented the design of the new Baleària ferry, which will soon be under construction at LaNaval shipyard; with a length of 232 meters, the new ship is expected to be operational in the Mediterranean in 2019.