GDF Suez signs LNG agreement

This partnership has resulted in two ‘first’ contracts: NYK’s order of an LNG bunkering vessels and a bunkering contract between GDF Suez and United European Car Carriers (UECC).

The partners will work together to develop the project in the Northern Europe Emissions Controlled Area (ECA) from Zeebrugge, Belgium.

“GDF Suez regards LNG as the future of bunkering,” said Jean-Marie Dauger, executive vice president, global gas and LNG, GDF.

“These new agreements emphasise the group’s retail NG strategy and demonstrates our commitment to the development of LNG bunkering business on a global scale, alongside harbour infrastructures and ship operators,” he added.

The LNG bunkering vessel will be built by Korea’s Hanjin Heavy Industries and Constriction and is expected to be delivered by 2016. Its home port will be Zeebrugge, where GDF Suez has already secured long-term access rights in the Fluxys LNG terminal. The bunkering vessel will be operated by NYK and will supply a range of end-customers.

The first customer will be UECC, which bought LNG from GDF on a medium-term basis for its two new dual-fuel car carrier vessels operating in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. By the end of 2016, the LNG will be delivered via ship-to-ship transfer in the Port of Zeebrugge.