Axpo has signed a 10-year agreement with Gas & Heat and the San Giorgio del Porto shipyard for chartering an LNG bunkering vessel. It is to be built by the shipowner San Giorgio in Piombino and will have a 7,500m3 capacity. In the future, it will also be able to transport bio-GNL and ammonia, which is emerging as a carbon-neutral fuel, particularly in the shipping industry.
Operating off the coast of Naples, from 2025 the Axpo-chartered vessel will provide both ship-to-ship bunkering services and ship-to-truck LNG transfer services.
According to a press release, the Italian vessel will be equipped with a multi-truck bunkering skid to enable it to load a number of tanker trucks at the same time, significantly reducing supply times.
Owned by Gas & Heat, the skid will be used for the first time in Europe. “LNG bunkering vessels support the increasing use of Liquefied Natural Gas as a fuel for maritime activities, which plays an important role in decarbonization and the transition to a more sustainable energy mix,” the press release states. “This pioneering project has been developed in collaboration with the Italian government’s Ministry of Infrastructure & Transport, MIT, and the Central Tyrrhenian & Naples Port Network Authorities.”
Translation by Giles Foster
