Posted on September 10, 2020
Furetank’s 18,000 DWT Fure Ven was bunkered with 225 metric tonnes of LNG at the Port of Jacksonville’s (JAXPORT) Talleyrand Marine Terminal on 1 September.
The fuel was supplied by Eagle LNG Partners from its on-site storage facility over the course of seven hours.
GAC Group assisted all parties by broking the LNG fuel and providing ship agency services to the vessel during her voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. The bunkering also marked the first time that GAC’s Bunker Fuels division had secured a deal to supply LNG as a marine fuel.
Fure Ven, which was laden with renewable diesel cargo for Preem, is one of Furetank’s V-Series, a new generation of product and chemical tankers introduced in 2018, and which the Swedish tanker company claims deliver a fuel reduction of approximately 40%.
Citing a study from the Swedish Environmental Research Institute in 2017, emissions reductions achieved by Fure Ven during this voyage alone have been calculated as an economic saving for the global community of more than $200,000, thanks to a reduction in the negative impacts of climate change and air pollution on human health and agriculture.
Lars Höglund, CEO of Furetank, said: ‘As early as 2014, Furetank decided to convert one of our vessels to LNG propulsion. Backed by the encouraging effects thereof, we developed the V-series, a vessel design with drastically lowered emissions and fuel consumption. These vessels have already cut CO2 emissions beyond the IMO target of a 50% reduction by 2050.
‘We note with pleasure that LNG bunkering is becoming available in more and more places, not least the US, and we are confident that investing in the V-series particularly contributes to a cleaner environment worldwide.’
Sean Lalani, President of Eagle LNG, said: ‘As a pioneer in LNG bunkering and a global leader in small-scale LNG, the team at Eagle LNG is proud to have partnered with the trailblazers at Furetank and GAC, along with numerous crucial stakeholders including JAXPORT, Crowley Maritime and the US Coast Guard, to safely accomplish this first-ever LNG bunkering in the United States. It is only fitting that this first bunkering happens in Jacksonville where JAXPORT, local officials, and the community have embraced the shipping industry’s transition to the more sustainable, affordable LNG.
Lalani continued: ‘Were it not for the pioneering spirit of our partners at Crowley Maritime, with whom we have already safely completed over 100 bunkering events, and the vision of Chairman and CEO Tom Crowley, this historic milestone for LNG bunkering globally and North Florida would not have been possible.’
Looking ahead, Lalani said Eagle LNG looked forward to utilising its experience and assets to bunker more international vessels from the JAXPORT facility and future operations in the Caribbean Basin in the coming months and years.
Nicholas Browne, GAC Bunker Fuels’ Global Director, said: ‘We are proud to have worked alongside Furetank and Eagle LNG to deliver the safe and successful refuelling of Fure Ven in Jacksonville. Like Furetank and Eagle LNG, GAC wants to do more than simply follow the development of environmentally friendly shipping – we want to play an active role in creating and facilitating the transition.’
Browne continued: ‘As an integrated service provider for all types of vessels, including LNG carriers, GAC is uniquely positioned to deliver its first LNG bunker supply to the Fure Ven, and we are actively being engaged by many of our shipping principals to support their adoption of LNG as a marine fuel.’
Source: bunkerspot
