A new 4,000-cbm LNG bunker vessel (LNGBV) chartered by Shell is heading to a US terminal to take on its first load.

Tracking data shows the Q-LNG 4000 articulated tug barge is signalling that it will arrive at Savannah, Georgia on 18 January. The bunker vessel is expected to load at the Elba Island LNG terminal, where Shell has offtake agreements.

The vessel, built by VT Halter Marine in Pascagoula, Mississippi, will be the second LNGBV to go into operation in the US, after the 2,200-cbm Clean Jacksonville (built 2018).

Shell and Q-LNG confirmed in a statement Wednesday that Q-LNG 4000 is now “ready for operations”, describing it as “a critical milestone” in the development of marine LNG in North America.

The Q-LNG 4000 was contracted by Quality Liquefied Natural Gas Transport (Q-LNG Transport) on the back of a long-term charter with Shell Trading that was signed in late 2017.

Q-LNG Transport is owned by Harvey Gulf International Marine chief executive Shane Guidry.

The Q-LNG 4000 will be operated by Harvey Gulf and is expected to be located in Port Canaveral, Florida.

It had been due to begin serving LNG-fuelled cruiseships operating in the region and its delivery was to have been timed to dovetail with the arrival of Carnival Corp’s 182,000-gt newbuilding Mardi Gras from Europe.

But the start of these operations is likely to be delayed due to the Covid-19-related suspensions of cruise companies’ sailings.

Shell has signed agreements with Carnival, the Miami cruise giant, to supply LNG as bunkers.

Once in operation, the Q-LNG 4000 will give Shell access to LNGBV tonnage in all three major trading regions.

In Singapore, it is about to deploy the 7,500-cbm newbuilding FueLNG Bellina, which was recently handed over to the joint venture between Keppel Offshore & Marine and Shell Eastern Petroleum.

In Europe, Shell has access to at least four LNGBVs, including its own 6,500-cbm Cardissa (built 2017).

In December, Shell Energy executive vice president Steve Hill said that including the upcoming US and Singapore units, the company will more than double its six LNGBVs in the period to 2025.

Shell has previously been looking at an 8,000-cbm LNGBV for the US.