Bunker, Feeder Vessel Boosts LNG Infrastructure

Norwegian LNG firm Skangass has announced that it will make LNG more readily available as marine fuel in Europe through the operation of Coralius, a new specialized bunker vessel. 

Skangass has entered into a long-term charter for the 5,800 cubic meter capacity vessel which will operate as an LNG ship-to-ship bunker vessel as well as a feeder. 

Coralius will be delivered by early 2017. It is expected to load LNG in Norway and Sweden for distribution in the Baltic area, with a focus on the Skagerrak and Kattegat area.

The vessel will provide easy access to LNG bunkering and limit the operational impact of calling a port in order to bunker. 

“Recently, we entered into our first ship-to-ship bunker contract with NEOT in Finland. Building the new vessel Coralius is the natural step for meeting this demand, and further developing our marine LNG supply chain. Although we already satisfy our marine clients’ needs by truck-to-ship and terminals-to-ship bunkering, we need to further develop the infrastructure. By doing so, we will also be in a much stronger position to meet steadily rising demand for LNG,” says Tor Morten Osmundsen, CEO of Skangass.

Coralius will deliver LNG to marine clients in a flexible and safe way, offering excellent accessibility and high transfer rates to minimize bunker time, says Osmundsen.

Skangass developed the project in cooperation with Anthony Veder and Sirius. Skangass holds long experience in LNG bunkering. Anthony Veder is one of the leading suppliers of small scale LNG vessels. The local knowledge of Sirius was used in the new design, and FKAB Marine Design has also participated in the project.

Coralius will be built by the shipyard Royal Bodewes in the Netherlands. The vessel will be owned by the Swedish/Dutch joint venture Sirius Veder Gas AB and operated by Sirius Rederi AB of Sweden.

During the design phase, great emphasis was placed on the ship’s systems for ship-to-ship operation to ensure that it is optimized to perform LNG bunkering offshore. The vessel will have a low, overall energy consumption and will be suitable for operating in noise sensitive areas.

The vessel combines proven technology applied in Anthony Veder’s small scale LNG carriers including a dual-fuel engine. The specific design features required to perform safe and reliable bunkering operations, e.g. thrusters to facilitate increased maneuverability, have been developed by both Anthony Veder and Sirius Rederi. Furthermore, the vessel has the highest ice class notation (1A) which allows it to trade in the Baltics during winter time.

The building of Coralius is part of the Joint Industry Project Flexi which is one of the projects included in Pilot LNG. The project is part of the collaboration platform Zero Vision Tool and it is co-funded by the EU. The aim of the project is to establish an LNG bunkering infrastructure.