Finnish state-owned energy firm Gasum has expanded its bunkering business with the completion of its first LNG fueling operation in Iceland.
Gasum also claims this is the first LNG bunkering operation ever performed in Iceland.
The bunkering operation took place in the port of Reykjavik on June 21, according to the firm.
As part of the first bunkering operation, Gasum’s chartered bunkering vessel Coral Energy delivered LNG and bio-LNG to Ponant’s LNG-powered polar cruise and exploration vessel, Le Commandant Charcot.
Ponant claims this is the world’s first LNG-powered, hybrid-electric passenger vessel to navigate in polar waters.
The vessel has Wartsila’s dual-fuel engines but also two GTT’s Mark III membrane technology tanks for a total capacity of 4500 cbm, enabling it to complete its entire voyage on LNG.
Gasum previously took part in the vessel’s first cool-down operation in May 2021 and the first LNG bunkering operation in the French port of Le Havre later the same year.
“By providing marine LNG in remote locations where such cruise vessels operate, Gasum supports the ambition of its cruise customers to continuously improve the environmental performance of their fleet and reduce the impact on visited ecosystems,” it said.
In addition to the almost complete elimination of local pollutant emissions that are already achieved by using LNG, the use of LBG, or bio-LNG, reduces the carbon footprint of cruising “significantly”, the firm said.
Gasum says biogas cuts carbon emissions on average by 90 percent when compared with traditional fossil fuels.
The company’s strategic goal is to bring 7 TWh of renewable gas yearly to market by 2027.
