Skangass to Build LNG Bunker Station Close to Stavanger

Norway’s Skangass plans to build a bunker station for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) close to Stavanger, betting on new applications to tap the potentialities of the fast growing LNG market. The company reported it received the needed approval of the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB) for the bunker station for Fjord Line’s ferries in Risavika. 

The project would allow ferries to bunker LNG while having passengers on board for the first time in Norway. In this way, LNG bunkering would be faster and would reduce the turnaround time for ferries running on LNG. 

‘High capacity and efficiency when bunkering is an essential condition for LNG being a preferred solution for the marine marked,’ reads a note released by the company on Tuesday.

The company expects to start construction operations in summer 2014.

One of the main drivers for using LNG as vessel fuel is the EU environmental regulation for lower emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2). The directive will enter in force in 2015. EU is planning to contribute to develop 139 ports with LNG bunker stations in Europe before the year 2025.