The sea-going vessel Fure West, a chemicals and oil tanker of the Swedish shipping company FureTank, has been bunkered with liquid natural gas (LNG) in the Port of Amsterdam yesterday. This is the first sea-going vessel to bunker with LNG in Amsterdam. The bunkering took place on the Groene Kade in the Amerikahaven, the designated location for safe truck-to-ship bunkering of LNG.
Fure West is the first sea-going vessel of FureTank that has a dual-fuel engine. Built in 2006, the ship has recently been converted to run on LNG. On Monday morning, she moored at Oiltanking for unloading. On Tuesday, she made her way to the Groene Kade where the bunkering took place. Titan LNG , an Amsterdam company trading in LNG, transported the liquid natural gas in five tankers from the GATE terminal to the Amerikahaven and ensured that the bunkering would be safely accomplished.
Chemical/Oil Products Tanker Fure West at Port of Amsterdam - Image courtesy: Port of Amsterdam
LNG in Amsterdam
Inland navigation vessels have been bunkering with LNG in the Amerikahaven since 2013. As a result of recent changes to the quay, sea-going vessels can now also bunker there. The facility is part of the sustainability agenda of the company and the vision of creating a metropolitan port that is continually improving, becoming faster, smarter and cleaner.
Marleen van de Kerkhof, State Harbour Master: ‘Port of Amsterdam is fully committed to making shipping sustainable. This is needed to provide a sustainable solution to the demands of logistics and regulation. The facilitation of safe bunkering operations with new and cleaner shipping fuels is a good example of this. The Groene Kade is now a temporary facility. Together with various partners such as Titan LNG, we are looking to create a more permanent bunker facility that is both safe and efficient. Today's bunkering operation was a successful first step in this direction.’
Niels den Nijs, CEO of Titan LNG, was also pleased with this milestone for the port and his company: ‘The use of LNG for shipping is on the rise, as a result of stricter environmental regulation, a sound business case and growing public pressure to make shipping cleaner.’
Cleaner shipping
Using LNG as a fuel has huge benefits for the environment. Sulphur and particle emissions would be reduced to almost zero, and nitrogen oxide emission is cut by 85-90 percent. LNG may also reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
Port of Amsterdam is Western Europe’s fourth largest port and plays a large role in the transhipment and processing of energy products. The North Sea Canal Area transhipped approximately 97 million tonnes of goods in 2015, with Port of Amsterdam accounting for approximately 78 million tonnes of this amount. A total of 68,000 people work in the port region either at companies in the port or at port-related companies. Approximately 34,000 of these people work in Amsterdam. Havenbedrijf Amsterdam NV is committed to being a smart port and to adding value for customers and the environment in a sustainable and innovative manner. It seeks to promote growth at companies, while still taking a careful approach to the available space and the quality of water, soil and air. Port of Amsterdam works as Port of partnerships intensively with partners in the business community (national and international), city and region.
Source: Port of Amsterdam