Bomin & Linde to Form LNG Joint Venture
German company Bomin, a subsidiary of oil and energy company Marquard & Bahls, has today signed an agreement with fellow German company The Linde Group to create a joint venture (JV) on LNG to the maritime sector.
The joint venture will be set up to build the relevant infrastructure for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the maritime sector in Europe, a statement from Linde says. The JV will also seek to create a supply chain of LNG to to ship owners and operators.
The joint venture is particularly timely in light of new emission guidelines, which are set to affect the maritime sector from 2015. Under these regulations, the maritime sector will be forced to radically reduce sulphur emissions. The Linde Group today said that LNG could help to reduce those emissions by 100 per cent, as well as an an 80-85 per cent reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and a 20-25 per cent reduction of CO2 emissions.
"A readily available and cost-effective LNG infrastructure is key to the development of LNG as a maritime fuel," Professor Dr Aldo Belloni, Member of the Executive Board of Linde said today.
"This new joint venture underpins our LNG strategy, already visible in our recent opening of the LNG terminal in Stockholm harbour and our study for the introduction of LNG with the Hamburg Port Authority."
The joint venture, which is split 50-50 between Bomin and Linde, is set to begin operations later this year.