Titan Clean Fuels, part of Molgas Group, has entered into a long-term agreement with Sogestran Group for the construction, charter, and operation of a new 6000 m3 LNG bunker vessel.
Titan is planning to operate the LNG bunker vessel throughout the Western Mediterranean. It will be able to load LNG from a series of terminals in the Mediterranean Sea and to offer LNG and bio-LNG bunkering, as well as gas up and cool down services to all types of LNG-fuelled vessels in major Mediterranean ports, including Fos-Marseille, Barcelona, and Genoa. This positioning expands the presence of the Molgas Group in the Mediterranean Sea by adding ship-to-ship LNG and bio-LNG bunkering services to its already established truck-to-ship and broader onshore downstream LNG distribution capabilities.
This LNG bunker vessel has been jointly developed and designed by the Titan and Sogestran teams to cater to the navigational, operational, and commercial characteristics of Western Mediterranean ports, LNG reloading terminals, and receiving vessels calling the ports in the region.
The ship will join the Molgas Group’s overall fleet of eight LNG bunker vessels in operation across Northern Europe, six vessels form Titan’s fleet and two are trading for Molgas Norway, reflecting the growing maritime demand for LNG and bio-LNG, as well as anticipated future demand for e-methane.
Grégoire Hartig, Commercial Director at Titan, commented: “We’re excited to grow our LNG bunker vessel fleet, by expanding our capacity to cater to our clients in terms of bunkering volume and geographical location. LNG and bio-LNG have proven to be the leading alternative fuels as the shipping industry continues its energy transition, and we intend to match this growing demand. We are very much looking forward to Titan, part of Molgas Group, becoming a prime LNG and bio-LNG bunkering supplier in France and the Mediterranean.”
Benoist Grosjean, Managing Director of Sogestran Shipping, added: “Co-developing this vessel with Titan has been an exciting challenge. Thanks to our in-house engineering capabilities and the close collaboration established with Titan’s technical teams from the earliest stages of the project, we have been able to design a tailor-made vessel perfectly suited to the operational requirements of the Western Mediterranean. Its low-air-draft design will notably enable it to bunker cruise ships without the use of a pontoon. Moreover, the vessel itself will be LNG/bio-LNG-fuelled, contributing to the decarbonisation of maritime transport."
The vessel will be built by CIMC SOE, the leading Chinese shipyard specialising in small and medium-sized gas carriers.