Damen to build LNG bunkering tanker for the Baltic

Damen Shipyards Group has won an order to build a 6,000 cu.m capacity LNG bunkering tanker for Estonia's Eesti Gaas

The LGC 6000 LNG class vessel, scheduled for delivery in September 2020, will accelerate the wider adoption of LNG as a cleaner alternative fuel in the Northeast Baltic Sea by providing a mobile and efficient ship-to-ship distribution service for the first time.

Eesti Gaas will operate the LNG bunkering vessel under a long-term charter from parent company Infortar AS, which will be the owner of the vessel. Infortar is also the parent company of Tallink Group, whose fleet includes the 2,800 passenger LNG-fueled RoPax Megastar, delivered by Meyer Turku in 2017.

Currently, Eesti Gaas is refueling the Megastar by truck, with eleven required for a single operation. The LGC 6000 LNG will be able to resupply the ferry in a single, efficient and much faster procedure while she is alongside her regular berth, loading and unloading passengers and vehicles.

Eesti Gaas has signed a long term contract with Tallink for technical support and manning of the bunkering vessel.

The 100 m bunkering vessel will be built at Damen Yichang Shipyard in China and will carry the LNG in two type-C tanks at -163° C.

Designed to meet the requirements for ICE class 1A certification and to achieve green ship notation, the LGC 6000 LNG will have a dual fuel propulsion system.

"This new vessel will help us to move significantly closer towards a clean and pollution-free Baltic Sea," said Ain Hanschmidt, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eesti Gaas. "With the introduction of the first LGC 6000 LNG scheduled for 2020, vessel operators in the region can now consider adopting LNG propulsion systems in their new and existing vessels, confident that they can access fast and efficient bunkering services. We look forward to it serving an increasing number of vessels using LNG as a marine fuel and thus reducing significantly their CO2, NOx, SOx and particulate matter emissions."