Titan LNG wins tender to bunker ferry in Marseille

Dutch firm Titan LNG has won a tender to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) for French ferry operator Corsica Linea's new LNG-fuelled ship at the port of Marseille.

The new ro-pax ferry A Galeotta will undergo sea trials in May of this year, with delivery expected shortly after.

The deal between Corsica Linea and Titan LNG advances the expansion of LNG bunkering into the Mediterranean by improving the availability of LNG and liquefied biogas (bio-LNG) in the region. The company will commence with truck-to-ship operations until the Krios, a 4,500m³ LNG bunker vessel is delivered in 2023. The bunkering ship will be able to supply the wider Mediterranean region with LNG and bio-LNG as a marine fuel.

The Titan LNG and Corsica Linea arrangement is not the first in the region. Earlier this year, TotalEnergies' new LNG bunkering vessel, the 18,600m³ Gas Vitality received its first LNG at the Fos Cavaou Terminal in France, where it will operate. TotalEnergies have agreements with Switzerland based MSC Cruises to supply 45,000 t/yr of LNG for its planned cruise ships available in 2022, as well to supply 570,000 t/yr of LNG to French shipping company CMA CGM, which currently operates 22 LNG-fuelled vessels, which is expected to rise to 44 by the end of 2024.

Elsewhere in the Mediterranean, the 7,500m³ Avenir Aspiration LNG bunkering and supply vessel delivered its first cargo to the Higas LNG terminal in Sardinia this week. Its owner, Avenir LNG is expecting delivery of its fourth LNG bunkering vessel, the 20,000m³ Avenir Achievement, in the second quarter of this year. The vessel has been chartered to Shell, which was awarded a licence to supply LNG bunkers in Gibraltar, the Mediterranean's largest marine refuelling hub.

Titan LNG secured funding under the EU's Connecting Europe Facility in 2020. The firm planned to use the funds to operate LNG bunker barges in Zeebrugge, Lubeck and Rotterdam. Titan LNG already operates two 1,480m³ vessels the FlexFueler 001 and FlexFueler 002. The company chartered the 8,000m³ Green Zeebruggfrom Japanese shipowner NYK in early 2021, with the aim of providing its own FlexFueler fleet with better loading economics. Titan LNG also plans to use its own Titan LNG Hyperion, which is expected to start operating in 2023.

LNG bunker sales in the Port of Rotterdam rose by 35.8pc from 157,027m³ in the second quarter of 2021 to 213,250m³ in the third quarter. From 2019 to 2020 LNG bunker sales increased by 194pc to 210,334m³ with 2021 total sales to the third quarter increasing to 509,766m³, a 142pc rise. The marked increase outlines the maritime industry's interest in LNG as an alternative bunker fuel, given its availability and good infrastructure.

By Jonah Sweeney