US Bunkers 1st Foreign Ship with LNG

A dual-fuel vessel owned and operated by Swedish shipping company Furetank has become the first non-US-flagged ship to be bunkered with LNG in the US.

The 18,000 deadweight tonnage Fure Ven tanker was bunkered by Eagle LNG Partners at Jacksonville, Florida, on September 1, the companies said in a joint statement on September 8. The tanker was fuelled with 225 metric tons of LNG in under seven hours.

"This milestone paves the way for more international trading vessels to bunker at Jacksonville port authority, marking the latest tangible demonstration of LNG as a safe and reliable fuel solutions," the companies said.  "It also builds confidence in the case for LNG to help the shipping industry meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations, while still generating substantial cost savings."

Eagle LNG's small-scale liquefaction facilities in Jacksonville primarily serve containerships belonging to local vessel owners Crowley Maritime and Tote Maritime. The gas company secured regulatory approval last year to build a 1mn mt/yr LNG export plant at the port by 2022.