France’s Brittany Ferries and Dutch LNG supplier Titan completed the first LNG bunkering operation in the UK’s Portsmouth port.
According to a statement by Portsmouth International Port on Monday, the 6000-cbm LNG bunkering vessel, Optimus, delivered LNG fuel to the E-Flexer class RoPax vessel, Saint-Malo.
The port said that the first of two new electric-hybrid ships from Brittany Ferries will soon be entering service from the city.
Titan received a permit to perform LNG bunkering operations at Portsmouth International Port earlier this month, following a long-term bunkering agreement signed between the Dutch company and Brittany Ferries.
The port said that LNG bunkering is now available to all customers sailing into and out of Portsmouth International Port.
Back in 2022, Titan and Brittany Ferries signed a long-term LNG bunkering agreement,
Under the deal, Titan will deliver LNG and liquefied biomethane (LBM) to two 194.7 meters long hybrid RoPax vessels that Brittany Ferries will operate between the UK and France from 2025.
The ferries will serve established routes connecting Portsmouth with Saint-Malo, and Portsmouth with Ouistreham.
With this operation, Portsmouth joins a growing network of ports around the globe offering LNG bunkering for vessels.
Orders for LNG-powered vessels jumped 103 percent to 264 ships last year, according to classification society DNV.
The orders for 264 LNG-powered ships compare to 130 LNG-powered vessels in 2023 and 222 LNG-powered vessels in 2022.
DNV said that the number of LNG-fueled ships in operation doubled between 2021 and 2024, with a record number of deliveries (169) in 2024.
By the end of 2024, 641 LNG-powered ships were in operation.