Zeebrugge 2nd Jetty Fully Commissioned

Belgian gas grid operator Fluxys said January 10 that the second jetty at its Zeebrugge LNG terminal was commissioned in late December, following operational tests carried out over recent months.

Coral Energy became the first LNG carrier to berth at the jetty for a commercial loading on January 9, it added; the vessel had just returned from shipping Lithuania’s maiden LNG export cargo, which was delivered to Sweden on January 6.

Fluxys said the second Zeebrugge LNG jetty will enable up to Q-Flex-sized 217,000 m³ large LNG carriers, all the way down to small tankers of just 2,000 m³ capacity including LNG bunkering vessels, to berth there. Already 200 loadings have been booked at the second jetty for small LNG carriers under long-term contracts, including by the 15,000 m³ Coral Energy which supplies mainly small terminals in other regional markets.

Last month RasGas became the first shipper to unload a cargo from a large LNG carrier, Milaha Qatar, at the new second berth.

Milaha Qatar delivered the first large cargo to Zeebrugge's 2nd jetty in December 2016 (Photo credit: (c) Fluxys Belgium - David Samyn)

Car carrier UECC recently began operating its first LNG-powered car carrier in Zeebrugge, with a second to follow soon. The UECC ships will be refuelled with LNG by a purpose-built bunkering vessel based out of Zeebrugge and co-owned by Fluxys, Engie, and Japan's Mitsubishi Corp and NYK Line. Fluxys notes that around 40 ships are being built for use in the English Channel, North Sea or Baltic, half of which will run on LNG.

Mark Smedley