A brand new LNG-powered vessel owned by German shipping firm GEFO has completed its first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation in Malaysia.
Last Friday, the Petronas-chartered Avenir Advantage supplied liquefied natural gas to the 7,000-dwt product tanker Tosca at the anchorage area of Pengerang in Malaysia, according to a statement by London-based small-scale player Avenir LNG.
The LNG-powered chemical tanker Tosca is on its maiden voyage from Shanghai to Europe, the statement said.
China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Yangzhou) built this ship, the first vessel in the GEFO fleet that features dual-fuel engines.
First collaboration for Avenir and Liquind Marine
Avenir said its unit Avenir Supply & Trading has teamed up with Germany’s Liquind Marine, a subsidiary of Vitol’s Liquind, for the bunkering operation.
Avenir and Liquind joined forces and contracted the small-scale LNG bunker supply and delivery by utilizing the 7,500-cbm Avenir Advantage, owned by Avenir and commercially operated by Petronas.
Also, this operation marked the first collaboration for the two companies.
The two firms plan to continue to jointly “seek opportunities to enable the competitive and flexible supply of LNG to various customers in strategic locations, with a focus in Europe,” the statement said.
Avenir LNG has recently taken delivery of the 7,500-cbm LNG bunkering and supply vessel, Avenir Aspiration, from China’s CIMC SOE. This is the third ship out of six Avenir has on order in China.
On the other side, Liquind Marine wrapped up its first bunkering operation in September last year in Germany’s Brunsbüttel.
The firm also now regularly fuels Elbferry’s Greenferry I via a truck-to-ship method in Brunsbüttel.