LNG bunkering infrastructure could be implemented and operational by 2015 at the Port of Rotterdam, its director of oil and storage, refinery and shipping, Roland E Van Assche said.
Pipelines from Germany already connected to the port mean that operations are near to start-up. Indeed, the Gate terminal currently supplies 3 billion m3/year of LNG to E.ON Ruhrgas.
The Port of Rotterdam is hoping to include an LNG bunker barge. Among others, Shell has expressed an interest in operating the barge Van Assche said.
In April, the port authorities of Antwerp, Mannheim, Rotterdam, Strasbourg and Switzerland signed a joint venture for the introduction of LNG. The agreement followed the LNG Master plan of the Rhine-Main-Danube corridor, in which all port participants are involved. The aim of the plan is to use LNG as fuel for inland shipping on the Rhine-Main-Danube corridor.
Edited from various sources by Ted Monroe