Gas and Heat supplies LNG bunkering skids to Canada

The four LNG-fuelled tanker newbuildings are the first in the world to operate carrying their own flexible LNG bunkering infrastructure onboard. The skids have the measurements of a 20 in. shipping container and are kept locked down on the ships deck. During bunkering operations, the skids are lifted onto the jetty where they allow up to four trucks to be connected concurrently. By increasing the flow rate and allowing the bunkers to be taken in one continuous operation these ships can reduce their bunkering time by as much as three quarters. This greatly improves their trading flexibility as they are not dependent on shoreside LNG bunkering infrastructure for a fast operation.

Gas and Heat believe that much like for fuel oil, trucks have a significant role to play in LNG bunkering. Trucks can quickly cover large geographical areas and are an efficient transportation mode especially for the smaller bunkering volumes. Flexibility is key for shipowners and the main hurdle with truck to ship LNG bunkering is the long operation time and the time restrictions from vessel side. This was the problem the Canadian shipowner wanted solved back in 2016 when the design of the bunkering skid started. Gas and Heat hope that solutions like these will make owners feel increasingly confident in the availability of LNG as fuel and as a result also feel more comfortable in ordering LNG fuelled vessels.

As enquiries started to emerge, a sister skid has also been developed to handle LNG breakbulk operations and it is now available to the market. It allows LNG to be loaded directly from a ship to trucks for onward distribution. Thereby it is a flexible and quick solution that can become the enabler for developing new markets that are not yet mature enough to warrant investment in a more costly small scale LNG terminal.

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/06062019/gas-and-heat-supplies-lng-bunkering-skids-to-canada/