Elenger Marine, part of Infortar, said it has christened its first LNG bunkering ship in Estonia, following completion of the vessel at Damen’s yard in Rotterdam.
The ceremony took place at Tallinn Old City Harbour, according to a statement by Elenger on Wednesday.
Estonian Prime Minister and the ship’s godmother Kaja Kallas said during the ceremony, “the green transition is one of the greatest challenges Estonian companies are facing and also one of their greatest opportunities to ensure competitive ability internationally.”
“I hope the shipping industry will soon be able to change to carbon-neutral fuels, and LNG is an important transitional solution on this route,” she said.
According to Elenger, this is the first such ship in the region. It will work in the part of the Baltic Sea centered around the Gulf of Finland.
The 99.8 meters long vessel can bunker tankers, cargo ships, passenger vessels, and cruise ships in ports and in offshore waters.
Also, the dual-fuel vessel is the first of Damen’s new class of 6000 LNG bunkering vessels. It has the capacity to transfer up to 1000 cbm/h of LNG via a ship-to-ship method, Elenger said.
It also has an ice-class 1A notation allowing it to operate in difficult ice conditions.
Elenger, the new trademark introduced by Eesti Gaas for its export markets, charters the vessel owned by Infortar.
The firm has been supplying liquefied natural gas to Tallink’s LNG-fueled RoPax ferry Megastar using multiple trucks. Tallink is also part of Infortar.
In addition, the Megastar will be one of the first beneficiaries of the arrival of Optimus, followed in spring 2022 by Tallink’s new LNG-fueled RoPax ferry MyStar.