The Spanish Port of Mรกlaga has carried out its first bunkering operation of bio-liquefied natural gas (bio-LNG), having supplied a container vessel owned by Swiss maritime transport giant Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) with this alternative fuel.
Courtesy of the Port of Malaga
As disclosed, the Liberia-flagged MSC Gabon refilled with bio-LNG at the Spanish port on September 24, marking Mรกlagaโs next step in its efforts to ensure sustainable operations in the wake of tightening environmental regulations.
According to the portโs officials, the bunkering operation was conducted by the 2021-built 7,500 cubic meter (cbm) small-scale LNG vesselย Avenir Aspiration, which is being chartered by Switzerland-based renewable energy producer Axpo.
The bunker ship reportedly supplied the 260-meter-long MSC Gabon with 3,000 cubic meters of bio-LNG.
Per the Port of Mรกlaga, Axpo is the first maritime player to carry out a ship-to-ship transfer (STS) of liquefied natural gas in the region.
Namely, as representatives from Axpo had previously divulged, in March this year, the company supplied an MSC ship with 2,800 metric tonnes of LNG, marking both the first time STS bunkering was performed in the region and the first instance of simultaneous operations (SimOps) in Spain for a boxship, meaning LNG refueling took place at the same time as cargo loading and unloading.
Beyond Mรกlaga, at the beginning of August, Axpo commemorated Spainโs โfirst-everโ bio-LNG transfer at the Port of Algeciras. The operation involved refueling theย CMA CGM Foet Bourbon with over 4,000 cubic metres of ISCC-certified bio-LNG. Axpo had said at the time that the clean fuel was sourced via virtual liquefaction at the Enagรกs Regasification plant in Cartagena, which is said to be a โvitalโ liquefied natural gas infrastructure hub in the Mediterranean region.
More recently, Axpo joined the FuelBoss platform, a fully digitalized end-to-end bunkering solution created by Ofinitiโa spinoff of Norwayโs classification society DNVโ which aims to boost process integrity, data transparency and operational efficiency.
The company revealed that one of the primary reasons behind joining the platform was to โstreamlineโ its bunkering LNG bunkering services and, in doing so, strengthen its position in the Mediterranean region.
๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐% ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ฌ!