Shell has used its new US-based LNG bunker barge in a first operation to supply a Siem Car Carriers newbuilding.
Siem Shipping chief executive Kenneth Ross confirmed to TradeWinds that the 7,500-ceu car carrier Siem Aristotle has been supplied with 1,469 cbm of LNG. The bunkering was carried out by the 4,000-cbm articulated tug barge newbuilding Q-LNG 4000 in the Port of Jacksonville, Florida early this week.
Ross said the operation took around nine hours.
He said the Siem Aristotle and sistership Siem Confucius (built 2020) were designed to be able to complete one-and-a-half Atlantic round-trip voyages with one bunkering of LNG, to give the operational flexibility in the event of schedule changes or fuel supply problems at the end of the route.
But Ross added that for Siem Aristotle’s maiden call, high LNG pricing in Europe over that seen in the US was a key driver in bunkering there.
Hungry for action
Observers in the US following the operation, which was carried out during the hours of darkness, said Shell was also keen to test out its first LNG bunkering vessel (LNGBV) in the US.
The Siem Aristotle was bunkered with LNG by Avenir LNG's 7,500-cbm newbuilding Avenir Advantage off Pasir Gudang Port in Johor state, Malaysia on its delivery voyage.
The vessel, which is on charter to the Volkswagen Group, then loaded LNG bunkers and a cargo of more than 4,800 cars in Emden, Germany, before setting out on its first commercial voyage to the US, Mexico and Canada.
TradeWinds reported on 13 January that the Q-LNG 4000 was heading to the Elba Island LNG terminal in Savannah, Georgia to load LNG. Shell has offtake agreements at the facility.
Shell later announced that the vessel was in service and ready for operations.
Global supply
With the start of LNG in bunkering in the US, Shell has supply vessels in all three major regions. It has just deployed its first LNGBV in Singapore, the 7,500-cbm newbuilding FueLNG Bellina, and has access to at least four LNGBVs in Europe.
The Q-LNG 4000, built by VT Halter Marine in Pascagoula, Mississippi, is the second LNGBV to go into operation in the US, after the 2,200-cbm Clean Jacksonville (built 2018).
The vessel was ordered by Quality Liquefied Natural Gas Transport, which is owned by Harvey Gulf International Marine chief executive Shane Guidry.
It is fixed on a long-term charter with Shell Trading that was signed in late 2017.
The vessel will be operated by Harvey Gulf, a New Orleans shipowner.
The Q-LNG 4000 is due to be located in Port Canaveral, Florida, serving the cruiseship industry, and had been expected to bunker Carnival Corp’s 182,000-gt newbuilding Mardi Gras on its arrival from Europe.
But the start of these operations has been delayed due to the Covid-19-related suspensions of cruise companies’ sailings.
