Bomin Linde LNG and Klaipedos Nafta establish joint venture

Bomin Linde LNG GmbH & Co. KG and SC Klaipedos Nafta have announced that they have signed a contract to establish a joint-venture. The agreement sets up a new company, Blue LNG, which is going to implement the LNG Bunker Supply Vessel project. The Hamburg-based Bomin Linde LNG will hold 80% of the shares, 20% will be at hands of SGD logistika, a fully owned subsidiary of Klaipedos Nafta.

The aim of the agreement, which was signed 24 November 2015 by Mahinde Abeynaike, Managing Director of Bomin Linde LNG, and Mantas Bartuska, General Manager of Klaipedos Nafta, is to build and operate a LNG Bunker Supply Vessel. The vessel is expected to put into operation in 2017. It will fulfil the following functions:

• Supplying the marine customers of Bomin Linde LNG with liquefied natural gas as ship fuel.
• Securing a flexible LNG transport service to the LNG reloading station of Klaipedos Nafta.
• Offering further services regarding LNG, e.g. transporting it to small-scale terminals at the Baltic and North Sea.

“This agreement means that Bomin Linde LNG, as the leading supplier of marine LNG in Northwest Europe, and Klaipedos Nafta, as an operator of the first full-scale LNG terminal in the Baltic Sea, are joining forces to extend Klaipeda as LNG hub in the region. The Klaipeda LNG terminal which is already in operation and soon-to-be-built LNG reloading station will be connected by the LNG Bunker Supply Vessel operated by Blue LNG,” said Mantas Bartuška, General Manager of Klaipedos Nafta.

“This partnership with Klaipedos Nafta marks a further step on the road of Klaipeda becoming our hub for efficient LNG supply to the Baltic Sea ports and other North Western European locations. In the next step, we will order the LNG Bunker Supply Vessel which will combine state-of-the-art technology, highest safety standards and superior performance”, Mahinde Abeynaike, Managing Director of Bomin Linde LNG, added.

Edited from press release by Angharad Lock

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/24112015/bomin-linde-lng-and-klaipedos-nafta-establish-joint-venture-1801/