The ongoing expansion by some of the world’s largest energy largest producers has seen the rapid growth of bunkering in recent years.n November, the Victrol-Sogestran (VS)-owned Energy Stockholm, Europe’s largest inland LNG bunker vessel which boasts a capacity of 8,000 cubic metres, was christened in Rotterdam by Shell.

The Energy Stockholm is the Belgium-based VS’s second inland bunker vessel chartered to Shell. Its first, the LNG London, with a storage capacity of 3,000m3, was launched in July 2019. It is now expected the ship will increase the energy giant’s bunkering capacity in the Zeebrugge, Antwerp, Rotterdam and Amsterdam region. Capable of bunkering a wide variety of vessels of various capacities and sizes, VS’s liquefied gas cargo handling systems allow it to fuel not only traditional tanks, but also membranetype ones.

Meanwhile, TotalEnergies, the world’s third largest LNG player, has signed a charter contract with Spanish ship owner Ibaizabal for a new bunker vessel with a 18,600m3 capacity. This new vessel will expand the company’s global presence in bunkering hubs. In particular, it may be deployed in Oman to complement the Marsa LNG project with the objective to provide liquefied gas to the shipping sector in the Gulf.

Currently being constructed by Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding in China, Ibaizabal is set for delivery by the end of 2026. It will join TotalEnergies’ current fleet of three deployed LNG bunker vessels – the Gas Agility, which has been positioned in the port of Rotterdam; the Gas Vitality, operated in the Port of Marseille; and the Brassavola, located in the Singapore harbour.

In essence, bunkering is the transfer of LNG to any vessel requiring liquefied natural gas as fuel for use within gas- or dual fuelled engines. The process requires specialised infrastructure for supply, storage and delivery to vessels.

LNG bunkering scenarios could be ship to ship, a floating bunkering unit to vessel, onshore terminal to carrier, truck to ship or portable fuel tanks switching. Generally speaking, research has indicated that the objectives of green shipping can be achieved through technological, logistical and market-based measures.

According to Shell, to meet the industry’s net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions ambition by 2050, the shipping network must maximise the potential of lower carbon fuels available today while preparing for future solutions.

LNG, the energy producer said, offered a pathway to achieving this goal by adding bio-LNG or synthetic liquefied gas in any proportion to meet voluntary or regulatory carbon intensity targets. Combined, they emit up to 23 per cent less GHG compared to very low sulphur fuel oil (depending on engine type).

Moreover, LNG outperforms conventional marine fuels when it comes to air pollutants, with near-zero sulphur oxides and reduced particle matter. Importantly, there is an abundant available supply of liquefied gas along key trading routes. Shell has the world’s largest portfolio of bunker vessels and is aiming to double this network by the mid-2020s to around 15 major ports.

Ships using LNG are cost competitive over their lifecycle and typically require less maintenance than those running on conventional fuels. When compared with heavy fuel oil from extraction to combustion, liquefied gas has been found to reduce GHG emissions by up to 21 per cent for two-stroke slow speed engines and possibly 15 per cent for four-stroke medium speed ones.

LNG is affordable, proven, safe and the cleanest fuel currently available to the maritime sector in meaningful volumes. Furthermore, ships using LNG are cost competitive over their lifecycle and typically require less maintenance than those using conventional sources of power.

Additionally, liquefied gas produces virtually zero sulphur oxides, 90 per cent less particulates and 85 per cent less nitrogen oxides when compared to heavy fuel oil.

If anything, bunkering has developed off the back of massive, globally-distributed integrated energy infrastructure provided by a worldwide network of 270 LNG liquefaction and regasification terminals with a capacity exceeding one billion tonnes per annum.

According to UK-based shipping industry analyst Lloyd’s List, global liquefied natural gas bunker demand nearly rose by 20 per cent during 2023 owing to the burgeoning fleets of LNG carriers and dual-fuel ships.

Bunker demand from fleet segments, excluding LNG and natural gas carriers, nearly doubled to 1.28 million tonnes in 2023 – up from 693,000t in 2022, according to the International Maritime Organisation.