Nauticor, GN Bunker Vessel in Spain

The first bunkering with LNG of a ship at the Spanish port of Cartagena took place May 19, said Nauticor May 22.

Fure Vinga, owned by Swedish shipowner Furetank, was conducted by German bunkering firm Nauticor using 120 tons of LNG supplied by Spanish utility Gas Natural. In total, six trucks of LNG were brought to the port and transferred to the vessel. It’s understood to be the first time this particular ship was bunkered with LNG outside Scandinavia. Other vessels have been bunkered at other Spanish ports such as Barcelona and Bilbao before; both those ports and Cartagena also host large LNG import terminals. GN wants to become a leading LNG bunker supplier in Iberia and has already contracted to supply Spanish shipowner Balearia.

The vessel is the first of six newly-constructed chemical product tankers owned by Furetank, and the second of its fleet to be powered by LNG, following another chemical tanker Fure West which has used LNG since 2015. Hamburg-based Nauticor, part of Linde, already bunkers Fure West in northwest Europe. Three months ago Nauticor conducted the largest LNG bunkering operation in Germany. 

In addition to owning and managing tankers, Furetank is also technical manager of the Swedish nuclear fuel transport vessel Sigrid on behalf of the country's nuclear fuel management consortium SKB.

The banner photo of Fure Vinga is courtesy of Gas Natural/Nauticor