Energy giant Shell has boosted its LNG bunkering business in Europe by adding a new inland LNG bunkering barge.
Türkiye’s RMK Marine recently delivered what it says is Europe’s largest inland waterway LNG bunkering barge.
The shipbuilder built the 8,000-cbm barge named Energy Stockholm for owners Victrol and Sogestran and charterer Shell.
The joint venture will own and operate this vessel, while UK-based LNG giant Shell will charter it for operations in the ports of Zeebrugge, Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam.
According to a statement by Belgium’s Victrol and France’s Sogestran, the JV and Shell held a christening ceremony for Energy Stockholm in Rotterdam on November 13.
The vessel will serve Shell Western LNG under a long-term charter contract.
Shell’s head of global downstream LNG, Dexter Belmar, said in a separate social media post that Shell took delivery of the vessel on November 15 at the Gate LNG import terminal in Rotterdam, where the vessel completed its first loading operation.
The newbuild will work from Gate along the smaller bunkering barge, LNG London.
Shell also charters this 3,000-cbm vessel from LNG Shipping.
Belmar said that some of Shell’s largest customers said they have a new LNG dual-fuel ship “coming on water every month.”
“We are well poised to support the bunkering needs of their growing fleet with our world-leading network of 12 bunker barges operating across 26 locations,” he said.
Earlier this year, Shell expanded its global LNG bunkering network with the completion of its first operation in the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium.
Prior to this, the firm added two more LNG bunkering locations in Europe, Flushing and Antwerp, last year.