Antwerp call for LNG bunkering station operator

The operation of the bunkering station, which is planned to be in service by 2016, will be granted as a five year concession and interested parties have until 5 January to submit their proposals to the port authority.

Truck-to-ship bunkering already exists at Antwerp but the port authority said that the fixed LNG station will go one step better because it will make the fuel continuously available to barges.

Antwerp Port Authority is one of the partners in the LNG Master Plan for the Rhine-Main-Danube aimed at promoting both the use of LNG as a fuel and as a cargo for European barges. The bunkering station project at Antwerp is funded partially by the European TEN-T programme.

The port authority is also continuing to move forward with its participation in helping to move the bunkering process forward and smooth the way for LNG to be adopted by the shipping industry on a more global scale.

It recently participated in a LNG port focus group discussion with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the Port of Rotterdam and the Port of Zeebrugge, at the Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition (SIBCON) 2014.

At the conference, the port focus group discussed two key areas around the LNG bunkering – harmonising technical standards and procedures and examining risk, emergency procedures and crew competency standards for shipping.