Norwegian shipping firm UECC has joined forces with Dutch LNG supplier Titan to bunker its pure car and truck carriers with bio-LNG in the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.
UECC said on Thursday that the two firms will collaborate on a series of liquefied biomethane (LBM), or bio-LNG, bunkering operations.
Titan will bunker ISCC-EU certified mass balanced bio-LNG to all of UECC’s LNG dual-fuel car carriers in July.
These PCTCs will use 100 percent bio-LNG as part of UECC’s ‘Green Gas Month’, an initiative that supports its wider ‘Sail for Change’ sustainability program, UECC said.
Three of the ships also feature battery hybrid technology, further enhancing their environmental performance, the company said.
In ‘Green Gas Month’ alone, UECC calculates the well-to-wake emissions reductions will exceed 8,000 metric tonnes of CO2e.
The GHG emissions reductions generated from these bunkering operations will be available to UECC customers through a CO2 registry that it opened in January 2024.
“This registry allows UECC to transfer the environmental benefits of clean fuel use to charterers in a transparent, traceable and independently verified manner across its entire supply chain,” the firm said.
Five LNG-powered PCTCs
UECC operates a fleet of 16 medium-sized PCTCs with loading capacity ranging from 1,060 to 4,750 car equivalent units, its website shows.
In 2016, the firm took delivery of two LNG-powered PCTCs, Auto Energy and Auto Eco.
After that, the firm ordered three LNG dual-fuel PCTCs with battery power in China.
In October 2022, China’s Jiangnan Shipyard handed over the LNG and battery-powered PCTC, Auto Aspire.
The Norway-based joint venture consisting of NYK and Wallenius Lines took delivery of the ship, Auto Advance, in November 2021, while the ship, Auto Achieve, joined the fleet in June 2022.