The Dutch port of Rotterdam is expecting the uptake of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as bunker fuel to increase significantly as more vessels are switching towards cleaner solutions. 

Speaking to reporters, port director Maud Eijgendaal, said that this year alone throughput of LNG as a marine fuel is set to reach 30,000 tonnes, which compares to 9,500 tonnes in 2018, Reuters reports.

By 2025-2030, the throughput of LNG as a bunker fuel at the port of Rotterdam where the Gate terminal, owned by Gasunie and Vopak, is located, could reach 1,000,000 tonnes Eijgendaal said.

The demand for LNG as a bunker fuel is also pushing suppliers to deploy bunkering vessels, with up to eight such vessels expected to be operational in the port in 2020.

It was added that the liquefied natural gas traffic in the port of Rotterdam is among the main contributing factors to the growth of LNG bunkering. Total LNG throughput in the first half of the year reached almost 4 million tonnes.

LNG World News Staff