Skangas Begins Finnish Bunkering

Skangas has bunkered a ship for the first time directly from its LNG terminal at Pori in Finland.

Finland’s Gasum, which is 51% shareholder in Skangas, said October 4 that the chemicals tanker Ternsund was bunkered with LNG on October 1. Skangas's newly-opened Pori terminal in western Finland is the only place in the Gulf of Bothnia where ships can bunker directly from a terminal.  

The ship is the first of four new LNG-fueled vessels owned by Danish shipowner Terntank, operated by Finland’s North European Oil Trade (NEOT), and built at the Avic Dingheng shipyard in China. Using LNG as a ship's fuel reduces particulate and CO₂ emissions, compared to other bunker fuels.

Skangas CEO Tor Morten Osmundsen said: “I’m very proud to be able to offer customers like NEOT a bunkering service directly at the terminal.”

Tern Sea, a sister ship to Ternsund, is shown here being named at the Avic Dingheng shipyard in China in September 2016 (Photo credit: Terntank)

NEOT chartering manager Satu Mattila said: “We will run Ternsund both along the Finnish and the Norwegian coast, as well as in the Gothenburg area [of Sweden]. It’s advantageous for us that our LNG supplier can offer bunkering at several locations where we trade. This fits well with our trading pattern for the vessels Ternsund and Tern Sea.”  

Skangas's competitors in the European LNG bunker market include Shell-owned Gasnor, Bomin-Linde, Engie and Titan LNG.

Mark Smedley