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Skangas, a subsidiary of Gasum Oy, has bunkered a ship for the first time directly from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Pori, Finland.

In a statement, Skangas explained that the product tanker Ternsund had been "successfully bunkered with LNG in a quick and safe operation".

Skangas's recently launched LNG terminal in Finland supplies LNG to a gas connection pipeline and offers truck loading as well as terminal-to-ship bunkering operations. It is the only location in the Gulf of Bothnia where ships can bunker directly from a terminal.

The Ternsund is the first of four new LNG-fuelled vessels owned by Danish shipowner Terntank Rederi A/S and operated by Finnish company North European Oil Trade (NEOT). The 15,000-deadweight-tonne (dwt) vessel is the world's first LNG-fuelled newbuilding oil/chemical tanker.

Tor Morten Osmundsen, CEO at Skangas, commented: "The Skangas terminal in Pori was officially opened three weeks ago. This marks a milestone in our development of the Finnish market. Now we do yet another first when making the first bunkering directly from the terminal. I'm very proud to be able to offer customers like NEOT a bunkering service directly at the terminal."

"We're very satisfied that we now have the opportunity to bunker LNG in Finland right beside one of our terminals," remarked Satu Mattila, Chartering Manager at NEOT. "We will run Ternsund both along the Finnish and the Norwegian coast as well as in the Gothenburg area. It's advantageous for us that our LNG supplier can offer bunkering at several locations where we trade. This fits well with our trading pattern for the vessels Ternsund and Tern Sea."

Skangas is owned by Gasum (with a 51 percent shareholding) and Norway's Lyse Group (with a 49 percent stake). Gasum is 75 percent owned by the Finnish government, with Russia's Gazprom owning a 25 percent share in the business.