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Energy company GDF Suez has commenced liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering operations at the port of Moerdijk in the Netherlands, according to media reports.

Danser Group's barge Eiger-Nordwand is said to be the first vessel to bunker LNG at the Dutch port, with the operation taking place on Friday, December 19.

GDF Suez is currently developing an infrastructure for LNG shipping, which includes storage facilities and the delivery of LNG by ship.

Earlier this year, Marubeni Corporation revealed that it had reached an agreement with GDF Suez on participation in an offshore LNG receiving terminal project in Uruguay to provide an LNG receiving, storage and regasification service which GDF Suez has been developing through its affiliate International Power S.A.

The project consists of the construction of one of the world’s largest floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), located around 2 kilometres offshore in the La Plata River, near Montevideo, and providing the LNG receiving, storage and regasification service for a period of 15 years from the commencement of commercial operation of the aforementioned FSRU.

In another project, GDF Suez, Mitsubishi Corporation and NYK Line are involved in the development of an LNG bunkering vessel, which is due to operate at the port of Zeebrugge in 2016.