Two energy majors have circulated requirements in the market for large LNG bunker vessels (LNGBVs) as they zone in on new business and try to build out infrastructure for the emerging fuelling sector.
Industry sources working in this sector said Total has put out a request for offers on a vessel of just under 19,000 cbm.
They said it plans to position the LNGBV in Marseilles in the south of France, where it could be used to supply bunkers to French liner company CMA CGM’s 15,000-teu, dual-fuel newbuildings, which deliver from 2021, and cruise vessels in the Mediterranean.
Greater manoeuvrability
Total has specified dynamic positioning for the vessel, suggesting a need for greater manoeuvrability, but left open the choice of cargo containment system.
Companies including Japan’s MOL and NYK Line, French tanker operator Socatra and a partnership of Sogestran Group subsidiary Compagnie Fluviale de Transport with Maritima et LNGistics are understood to have expressed an interest in the project.
The LNGBV mirrors an 18,600-cbm membrane-type newbuilding contracted by MOL against a long-term charter with Total. This vessel, under construction in China, is due to be in operation from next year, bunkering CMA CGM’s nine 23,000-teu, dual-fuel newbuildings in Rotterdam.
Total is also partnering Pavilion Energy on a 10,000-cbm LNGBV newbuilding for Singapore.
In March, Jerome Leprince-Ringuet, managing director of the company's bunkering arm, Total Marine Fuels Global Solutions, told TradeWinds that more companies will opt for LNG as a fuel this year as owners look to the next wave of newbuildings and IMO 2020 compliance.
Shell has also sent out a tender for an LNGBV of about 18,000 cbm.
Worldwide trading capabilities
Shell, which has been pioneering LNG bunkering with a range of newbuildings and chartered vessels, is asking for worldwide trading capabilities on its vessel. But one source working on the business suggested the unit could be based in Northern Europe.
Offers are due in on the newbuilding by 28 June. Shell wants to see it in operation by 2022.
A spokesman for Shell said it had no comment to make on the business.
The tender duo from two of the biggest names in LNG bunkering has prompted speculation among industry players that the majors are acting on expected demand from shipowners and operators, which have indicated they plan to take the dual-fuel option with upcoming newbuildings.
