France LNG ready

Gas Vitality is TotalEnergies Marine Fuels’ second collaboration with shipowner Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd (MOL) and shipbuilder, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding. The vessel will be based in the Port of Marseille Fos, to serve the Mediterranean region.

“We are delighted to officially name our second chartered LNG bunker vessel. The ‘Gas Vitality’ is a testament of our commitment to provide our shipping customers with another major European hub to help meet their LNG bunkering needs,” said Jérôme Leprince-Ringuet, vice-president marine fuels at TotalEnergies.

Serving CMA CGM and MSC Cruises

The 135m long, 18,600-m³ GTT Mark III membrane vessel has been classed by Bureau Veritas and will be operated by V.Ships France under the French flag.

It will notably perform LNG bunkering services to CMA CGM’s LNG-fuelled containerships and MSC Cruises’ upcoming LNG-powered cruise ships that call at the Port of Marseille Fos.

The vessel incorporates increased loading and bunkering rate by 25%, to a maximum of 2000m3, according to TotalEnergies and MOL. Other features include two manifolds for enhanced ship-to-ship bunkering flexibility across vessel types and onboard re-liquefaction of the boil-off gas for propulsion and the vessel’s own power generation.

TotalEnergies Marine Fuels, MOL and Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding first collaborated in 2018 to successfully design and build Gas Vitality’s sister ship, the Gas Agility, which has been operating in the Port of Rotterdam since November 2020.