Siem Offshore’s newbuild, the Siem Harmony, has bunkered 120 cubic meters (120 thousand litres) of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) at Remontowa Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, as it prepares for pre-commissioning sea trials. Polish oil company LOTOS and state-controlled oil and gas company PGNiG cooperated to bring about the first logistic project of this kind in the country.
The gas was transported by tank cars from the Lech Kaczyński LNG Terminal to the shipyard in Gdańsk.
“The terminal in Świnoujście allows us to efficiently transport LNG across the country. More and more vessels are powered with LNG, as a fuel ensuring compliance with the most stringent regulations pertaining to sulfur and other noxious product emissions. This is why we are going to develop our bunkering services,” said Henryk Mucha, President of PGNiG Obrót Detaliczny.
Ships powered by latest technology dual-fuel engines run on both conventional fuel and much cleaner liquefied natural gas, which makes them more environmentally friendly compared with those using only conventional fuel. Shipowners are switching to low-emission vessels powered with LNG in order to meet the EU’s environmental requirements with respect to fuels containing up to 0.10% of sulfur. More stringent emission limits set forth in the sulfur directive provide for a ten-fold reduction in sulfur emissions starting from 2015.
“The technologies of LNG distribution and use are technologies of the future,” emphasised Przemysław Marchlewicz, Vice President of the Management Board of Grupa LOTOS S.A. “I am glad that Grupa LOTOS, jointly with PGNiG and the shipyards, is taking on this challenge to the benefit of the entire country. We will support the development of this branch and related infrastructure. It is a right and desirable direction also, or perhaps mainly, because of environmental reasons.”
“LOTOS Asfalt diversifies bunker fuel supplies to the market which expects suppliers to come up with alternative, low-sulfur solutions,” said Piotr Przyborowski, President of the Management Board of LOTOS Asfalt. “This is a completely new and innovative direction in our business. What we are doing is communicate to the market that our product mix has been extended to include the LNG bunker fuel with delivery to all ports in Poland.”
Siem Offshore signed a contract for four LNG-powered PSVs to be built by Remontowa Shipbuilding in January 2014, with the first ship scheduled for delivery before the end of 2016.
The Siem Harmony has been chartered by the Australian LNG player Woodside on a five-year deal starting in 2017. It will operate as part of the Woodside Integrated Fleet working offshore Dampier, Western Australia.
(Source: PGNiG)
Related article: Woodside Selects LNG Powered PSV for Australian First
