Babcock Schulte Energy (BSE), a 50:50 joint venture between Babcock and Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), has received its new liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker supply vessel, MV Kairos.
The 7,500m³ vessel was constructed at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea as part of a contract awarded in December 2016.
BSE is expected to deploy MV Kairos to the Baltic region to serve various customers, including Linde / AGA terminal in Nynäshamn, Sweden, and the Klaipėda LNG fuelling station in Lithuania.
MV Kairos is designed to conduct ship-to-ship bunkering and transhipment operations. The vessel will be used to serve the shore-based gas consumers and supply LNG fuel to a range of ships, including ferries, containers, and cruise vessels.
MV Kairos features Babcock’s Fuel Gas Supply Vessel Zero (FGSV0) technology, a scalable cargo-handling and fuelling solution with compressed natural gas storage, and utilisation capabilities.
The vessel is also capable of eliminating the emission of boil-off and flash gas to the atmosphere during normal operations, offering significant benefits to the environment.
Babcock LGE managing director Neale Campbell said: “Babcock thrives in complex environments, which require specialist engineering expertise.
“Our commitment to the Babcock Schulte Energy joint venture draws upon Babcock’s significant gas systems expertise.
“Leveraging this to meet our customer’s specific requirements, the collaboration, teamwork, and overall performance of our teams have been exceptional and critical to the success of this programme.”
MV Kairos has entered service with the loading of LNG at the Regasification Terminal Pengerang (RGTP) in Johor, Malaysia. The LNG was supplied by Malaysia’s Petronas LNG, reported Reuters.
MV Kairos is currently placed on a time-charter with Blue LNG, a joint venture between Nauticor and Klaipedos Nafta.
