UK-based small-scale LNG player Avenir has completed the first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation in the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda.
The Port of Klaipeda announced the first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation in a statement issued on Thursday.
During the operation which took place on April 9, the 7,500-cbm LNG bunkering and supply vessel, Avenir Aspiration, delivered 326 cubic meters of LNG to the 170 meters long CMA CGM container vessel, Containerships Aurora.
CMA CGM operates three LNG-powered vessels in the Baltic Sea, with regular calls at the port of Klaipeda.
There are plans to expand the LNG-powered vessel fleet to six in the near future, the statement said.
This bunkering marks a “significant milestone” for maritime services in the Lithuanian transport hub, it said.
Klaipeda Port added it has the ambition to offer a wider variety of alternative fuels in the future, including on-site production and bunkering of green hydrogen starting in early 2026.
LNG terminal operator KN Energies announced in March 2020 that an LNG powered vessel was bunkered for the first time in the port of Klaipeda, but this was a truck-to-ship operation.
During this operation, the cement carrier Greenland received LNG at the Malkos Bay Terminal.
KN Energies operates the small-scale LNG reloading station in Klaipeda and the FSRU-based LNG terminal which features the 170,000-cbm FSRU Independence.
Avenir joined forces in 2022 with Lithuanian gas supplier Achema Gas Trade to complete its first delivery to the small-scale LNG terminal in the port of Klaipeda.
Avenir Aspiration loaded LNG on behalf of Achema Gas at the FSRU and delivered the cargo to the LNG reloading station.