Nordic gas supplier Gasum has secured a contract to bunker LNG as a fuel for two new dual-fuel powered crude shuttle tankers when they enter service in 2020 under a long-term charter to Equinor.
The two 123,100-dwt shuttle tankers Eagle Blane and Eagle Balder are chartered by Equinor and owned by AET Sea Shuttle AS, a joint venture between Norway’s ADS Shipping and Singapore’s AET Tankers. Project management for the ships was provided by MISC Group’s marine services arm Eaglestar and Norwegian third-party ship management company, OSM Maritime.
“We are happy to support Equinor in its ambition towards cleaner shipping,” Kimmo Rahkamo, Gasum vice president said in an official statement on 31 January 2020. Mr Rahkamo noted that Gasum marked the 200th STS LNG bunkering performed by Coralius in January.
“That was a major milestone for us, increasing not only the numbers but also expanding the geographical area,” he said. “We now bunker vessels over an area ranging from Rotterdam to Gothenburg waters.”
Eagle Blane and Eagle Balder will serve Equinor on long-term charter for operations in the Norwegian Continental Shelf of the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and the southern Barents Sea, and the UK Continental Shelf.
With an overall length of approximately 100 m, beam of 18 m and design draught of 5.7 m, Coralius has two IMO type C cargo tanks, one with a capacity of 2,550 m3 and the other 3,250 m3, built by South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries.
Using LNG as their primary fuel, the shuttle tankers will also be able to capture 100% of the harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that escape into the air from crude oil cargoes during loading and voyage for reuse as a supplementary fuel.
Utilising a more efficient system for dynamic positioning, combined with the LNG-fuelling and VOC recovery systems, these vessels will save an estimated 3,000 tonnes of fuel per year compared with conventional dynamic positioning-capable shuttle tankers of the same size, according to AET.
LNG bunkering operations under the agreement will take place off Skagen, Denmark, and at Mongstad, close to Bergen, Norway. Gasum will utilise the 5,800-m3 LNG bunker vessel Coralius to perform the ship-to-ship (STS) transfer operations
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