The Spanish energy company Molgas Energía bunkered 40 metric tonnes of the so-called ‘clean gas’ at the northern Spanish port of Santander in May. The LNG-fuelled cement carrier MV Ireland was bunkered in a tank-to-ship operation which lasted 5 hours.
The supply consisted of a total of 37 tons, made from 2 tanks. The work of bunkering truck to ship was planned, coordinated and supervised by Molgas Energía in collaboration with the Port of Santander, the assigned consignee and the crew of the ship and was concluded without any incident.
LNG is natural gas that has been cooled to -161 degrees Centigrade at atmospheric pressure for transportation in liquid form. It is odourless, colourless, and is neither corrosive nor toxic. Natural gas has the lowest environmental impact of all fossil fuels because of the high hydrogen-carbon ratio in its composition.
MV Ireland, operating under the Norwegian flag of shipowner KGJ CEMENT, was launched on 19 March 2016 at the Ferus Smit Shipyard shipyard in Westerbroek, The Netherlands. It has LNG fuel capacity of 48 tons, an autonomy of 1,200 nautical miles and a consumption rate of 10 tons / day.
The bunkering follows a similar operation involving the cement carrier carried out at the neighbouring Port of Bilbao in March.
(Source: Port of Santander)
