First LNG-Fueled Oil Tankers Coming in 2018
http://gcaptain.com/first-lng-fueled-oil-tankers-coming-in-2018/April 3, 2017 by Mike Schuler
Russian shipping company Sovcomflot has teamed up with a unit of Royal Dutch Shell for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker fuel for the first Aframax crude oil tankers in the world to be powered by LNG.
The agreement between Sovcomflot (SCF Group) and Shell Western LNG B.V. was announced Monday.
The four ice-classed, dual-fuel Aframax tankers will operate in the Baltic Sea and Northern Europe transporting crude oil and petroleum products. Each LNG-fueled tanker will have an ice class 1A hull enabling year-round export operations from the Russian Baltic.
The vessels are expected to come into operation beginning in the third quarter of 2018.
Under the agreement, Shell will provide the LNG fuel for the tankers using a specialized LNG bunker vessel at the Gas Access to Europe (GATE) terminal in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and other supply points in the Baltic. The signing of the agreement marks the fulfillment of an MOU signed between Shell and SCF in September 2015 to develop LNG bunker fueling for large-capacity tankers....
