Dutch shipowner Anthony Veder has signed up to a small-scale LNG carrier newbuilding that is expected to supply LNG as bunkers out of Australia.
The 30,000-cbm order was announced last week by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, which controls the Hyundai shipyard grouping, along with a batch of other orders.
None of the contracting parties were identified. Brokers named Anthony Veder — which works closely with Shell on LNG bunkering — as the owner behind the ship.
Australia’s Woodside Energy has previously been linked to Anthony Veder for its LNG bunker vessel requirement.
The vessel is likely to be used to supply LNG as bunkers to ships calling at Port Hedland in north-western Australia.
The port area is congested with bulker traffic and any LNG fuelling operations are expected to take place offshore, requiring a large LNGBV.
Anthony Veder chief executive Jan Valkier did not respond to a request for comment.
Several bulker owners and operators have ordered LNG-fuelled bulkers in recent months.
They include Eastern Pacific Shipping and H-Line Shipping, which netted charters from Rio Tinto for up to a dozen dual-fuel, 210,000-dwt bulker newbuildings.
Eastern Shipping is also building five LNG-fuelled, 209,000-dwt newcastlemaxes for charter to BHP that will transport iron ore from Port Hedland to China from the first half of 2022. Shell won the deal to supply fuel for these vessels and plans to bunker them with LNG out of Singapore.
Anglo American has time-chartered four 190,000-dwt LNG-fuelled capesize bulkers from Taiwan’s U-Ming Marine & Transport for 10 years.
