Shell and Sovcomflot have recently completed another milestone LNG bunkering operation offshore the Port of Canaveral, Florida.
During the operation, Sovcomflot’s LNG-powered Aframax tanker Korolev Prospect received the fuel from the Shell-chartered Q-LNG 4000.
This marked the 150th marine LNG fueling operation for Sovcomflot’s ‘Green Funnel’ Aframax tankers, the Russian shipping firm said in a statement on Thursday.
Since operations began in 2018, Sovcomflot’s ‘Green Funnel’ Aframaxes have taken over 62,000 tonnes of marine LNG fuel from Shell, it said.
Sovcomflot calculates that since 2018, LNG fuel has helped reduce the total CO₂ emissions of these six tankers by over 56,000 tonnes or by over 14 percent annually on average.
Chevron trials LNG-powered vessels
US energy giant Chevron has chartered the 250 meters long LNG-powered Korolev Prospect.
“Chevron is using the vessel to trial the viability of dual-fueled tankers for its future operations,” Sovcomflot said.
In addtion, the 150th fueling follows the first LNG bunkering operation of an Aframax tanker in the US. Shell bunkered Sovcomflot’s Gagarin Prospect in March with Q-LNG 4000 offshore Port Canaveral.
“LNG fueling infrastructure expands as demonstrated by SCF and Shell with a number of firsts in North-West Europe and the Baltics in 2018-2019, and more recently in the USA and Mediterranean, so we believe the business case for dual-fuelled tankers only increases further,” Sergey Popravko, chief operating officer of Sovcomflot, said.
“The shipping sector must immediately employ the cleanest fuels available. Today LNG is the choice to ensure we are not adding heavier emitters into the global fleet while we work hard at developing zero-emissions fuels,” Tahir Faruqui, general manager, Shell global downstream LNG, said.
