Skangas LNG Bunker Ship Conducts 1st STS

Scandinavian LNG distributor Skangas said September 19 it conducted its first ship-to-ship (STS) transfer using its new Coralius LNG bunkering ship.

The LNG transfer took place in the international waters of the northern Kattegat between Frederikshavn, Denmark and Gothenburg, Sweden.

The receiving vessel, Fure West, is a 144-meter-long tanker that transports oil and chemicals, mainly in the Baltic and Kattegat area. In 2015 shipyard Furetank Rederi retrofitted the tanker pioneering the use of LNG as marine fuel in Europe.  

“The bunkering of Fure West confirmed that Coralius delivers in accordance with what she is built for”, said Skangas CEO Kimmo Rahkamo.

Coralius, the first Europe-built LNG bunker and distribution vessel, was named May 22 and delivered this summer; it is on long-term charter to Skangas by owners Anthony Veder and Sirius Shipping, having been ordered in 2015 and built by Dutch shipyard Royal Bodewes. It can carry 5,800 m³ of LNG.

Coralius (right) and the much bigger Fure West receiving a ship-to-ship LNG transfer (Photo credit: Skangas)

Rival supplier Shell also took delivery of a new LNG bunker Cardissa that will also operate around northern Europe; on September 17 it unloaded LNG from the Independence, a floating LNG import terminal moored in Lithuania since 2014, in order to commence commissioning of a new facility nearby. 

Mark Smedley