Hanjin Heavy Industries delivers LNG bunkering vessel

South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction has delivered a liquefied natural gas bunkering vessel (LBV) to a consortium of Engie, Fluxys, Mitsubishi, and NYK Line.

The newly delivered vessel is named Engie Zeebrugge, and is due to start its maiden journey in the next few days after being loaded with liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Hanjin Heavy Industries’ Yeongdo shipyard in Busan, South Korea.

Engie Zeebrugge features an overall length of 107.6m and a breadth of 18.4m, and will be powered by a dual fuel engine capable of operating on marine gas oil, marine diesel oil, and LNG.

The vessel is capable of carrying 5,000m³ of LNG and has gross tonnage of 7,403t, and its home port will be its namesake village of Zeebrugge, Belgium.

Engie Zeebrugge will initially supply LNG fuel for two pure car and truck carriers (PCTC) operated by United European Car Carriers.

The new LBV is capable of providing service to a variety of LNG-fueled ships, and will serve the wider Northern Europe area from its home port.

Engie Zeebrugge will load LNG at Fluxys’ LNG terminal in Zeebrugge during its upcoming assignments, where small carriers with capacities from 2,000m³ can dock at the recently commissioned second jetty.

LNG is expected to become an important alternative fuel for the shipping industry in the near future, thanks to the introduction of stricter regulations on emissions.

Engie, Mitsubishi and NYK Line launched Gas4Sea to market ship-to-ship LNG bunkering services worldwide in September last year.