Russian shipping giant has teamed up with Shell to complete the first LNG bunkering of an Aframax tanker in the United States. Sovcomflot’s Gagarin Prospect, on long-term charter to Shell, was en-route from Corpus Christi to Europe.
The vessel received 1,075 cubic metres of LNG from the Shell NA LNG chartered Q-LNG 4000 outside the Port of Canaveral, Florida. This represented the first ever ship-to-ship LNG fuelling of a large capacity Aframax tanker in the USA.
This event demonstrates the rapid expansion of LNG bunkering infrastructure globally, Sovcomflot said in its statement.
The deviation from the vessel’s usual voyage route amounted to less than 150 nautical miles (0.5 days) and the bunkering time was 11 hours. LNG can now be supplied ship-to-ship on the principal transatlantic tanker trade routes between Europe and the US Gulf, and the US Gulf and East Coast Canada, which has seen traffic increasing rapidly as a result of the growth in WTI crude exports from the US Gulf.
Gagarin Prospect is the lead vessel in SCF Group’s pioneering series of dual-fuelled Green Funnel Aframax tankers, delivered in 2018/2019, and one of two in the series on long-term time charter to Shell.
Sovcomflot’s Gagarin Prospect, on long-term charter to Shell, was en-route from Corpus Christi to Europe.
The vessel received 1,075 cubic metres of LNG from the Shell NA LNG chartered Q-LNG 4000 outside the Port of Canaveral, Florida. This represented the first ever ship-to-ship LNG fuelling of a large capacity Aframax tanker in the USA.
This event demonstrates the rapid expansion of LNG bunkering infrastructure globally, Sovcomflot said in its statement.
The deviation from the vessel’s usual voyage route amounted to less than 150 nautical miles (0.5 days) and the bunkering time was 11 hours. LNG can now be supplied ship-to-ship on the principal transatlantic tanker trade routes between Europe and the US Gulf, and the US Gulf and East Coast Canada, which has seen traffic increasing rapidly as a result of the growth in WTI crude exports from the US Gulf.
Gagarin Prospect is the lead vessel in SCF Group’s pioneering series of dual-fuelled Green Funnel Aframax tankers, delivered in 2018/2019, and one of two in the series on long-term time charter to Shell.
Source: World Maritime News
