Containerships Newbuild Completes First LNG Bunkering in Port of Rotterdam

Photo: Containerships Group

Finnish shipping company Containerships Group says its LNG-powered ship, M/S Containerships Nord, has completed its first LNG bunkering at the Port of Rotterdam ahead of her maiden voyage.

According to the company, around 240 metric tons of LNG fuel was loaded onto the vessel during a ship-to-ship transfer from Shell’s specialized LNG bunkering vessel Cardissa.

The bunkering operation took place on 24 January at a non-operational lay bay berth. In the future, the bunkering will be carried out at a normal operational berth simultaneously with loading and discharging operations.

During the operation, enough LNG fuel was loaded to cover Containerships Nord’s roundtrip voyage from Rotterdam to St. Petersburg, via the Kiel Canal.

The Containerships Nord started sailing from China towards Europe in mid-December. She reached the European waters after passing the Suez Canal after two and half weeks sailing. Three sister vessels will follow the same route after their delivery later this year.

As part of the agreement signed by Shell and Containerships, which is a subsidiary of French shipping group CMA CGM, Shell will supply the LNG for Containerships’ LNG vessels via ship-to-ship bunkering at the Port of Rotterdam. All the newbuilds will be bunkered by Shell bunker vessels, including the Cardissa.

Tahir Faruqui, General Manager, Shell Global Downstream LNG, said: “We are proud to supply Containerships with a cleaner burning and viable fuel for the shipping industry. LNG bunkering is a very safe operation and we look forward to conducting simultaneous operations with Containerships in the future”.

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