Keppel Wins Order for South East Asia?s First LNG Bunkering Vessel

FueLNG, a joint venture between Keppel O&M and Shell Eastern Petroleum, has placed an order for the first LNG bunkering vessel in South East Asia.

Keppel Singmarine, a subsidiary of Keppel O&M, will build the 7,500 cubic meter LNG bunkering vessel, valued at around $37 million. She is projected to be expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2020 and will enable FueLNG to be the first in Singapore to provide ship-to-ship LNG bunkering services. FueLNG will receive a grant of up to $3 million from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

The vessel will be built to the proprietary design, MTD 7500U LNG, developed by Keppel O&M. Equipped with dual-fuel generator engines, the LNG bunkering vessel is expected to be more efficient than conventional bunker vessels. It is able to harness boil-off gas, a by-product of bunkering operations as well as the continuously evaporating LNG in the cryogenic tank, which would otherwise be flared off. It is also designed with a barge-like extended flat surface to provide bunker to a wide range of vessels.

A twin screw azimuthing propulsion system allows crabbing maneuvers during bunkering operations, minimizing tug utilization and in turn reducing fuel consumption and emissions.

As emissions standards tighten, globally, the industry is seeing increasing demand for LNG-fuelled ships, with 123 LNG-fueled ships in operation and 150 on order as of early 2018. To meet this increasing demand, oil majors like Shell are expanding their LNG bunkering capabilities to increase the availability of LNG across the world. 

According to a survey by LNG World Shipping, there are five LNG bunkering vessels in service and 10 on order as of February 2018. These vessels, such as the Shell-commissioned Cardissa, will serve customers throughout Europe and are important in scaling up demand for LNG as a marine fuel and creating a new norm for delivering fuel for shipowners and operators.