Singapore’s FueLNG, a joint venture consisting of Sembcorp Marine’s Keppel Offshore & Marine and Shell, has named its second bunkering vessel in South Korea.
South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo held the naming ceremony for the 18,000-cbm, FueLNG Venosa, on April 21 at its yard in Ulsan, according to a statement by FueLNG.
Korea Line LNG, a unit of SM Group’s Korea Line, owns this LNG bunkering vessel which was launched in November last year.
The firm ordered this vessel in April 2021 at Hyundai Mipo for about $60 million saying it would go on a charter with an Asian LNG bunkering supplier.
The contract includes a firm period of five years with options to expand it to ten years in total.
FueLNG says the vessel is capable of bunkering different types of LNG fuel tanks.
Besides bunkering operations, FueLNG Venosa shall provide gas-up and cool-down services to LNG carriers and LNG-fueled vessels after dry docking in Singapore or enroute to loading operations, it said.
Aw Kah Peng, chairman of Shell companies in Singapore, who is the godmother of the vessel, said the bunkering vessel will support a “growing number of LNG-fueled ships that call at the Singapore port, contributing to the country’s ambition of becoming a regional hub for LNG bunkering.”
Saunak Rai, general manager of FueLNG, welcomed the addition of FueLNG Venosa to the company’s fleet, saying it will help the firm cater to the growing demand for LNG bunkering services in the Asia Pacific region.
Two LNG bunkering ships
This vessel will join Singapore’s first LNG bunkering ship FueLNG Bellina, owned by FueLNG.
The JV completed the first bunkering operation with this ship to a CMA CGM vessel in March 2021.
In June last year, Shell signed a new deal with France’s CMA CGM to bunker the latter’s LNG-powered containerships.
Under the multi-year bunkering deal, Shell will deliver LNG to CMA CGM’s 13,000-teu vessels in the port of Singapore, starting from the second half of 2023.
Both of these bunkering ships will deliver LNG under the deal.