Thu 8 Dec 2016, 10:38 GMT

Australia's first LNG-fuelled support vessel bunkered in Amsterdam


The platform supply vessel Siem Thiima is to operate as part of Woodside Energy's fleet in 2017.



Prima LNG supplied liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the platform supply vessel (PSV) Siem Thiima at the port of Amsterdam last week.

On 2nd December, the Antwerp-headquartered supplier carried out a truck-to-ship LNG delivery to the Siem Offshore-owned vessel, delivering four trailers of the cold fuel at "very short notice", with the operation taking around half a day to complete, the company told Bunker Index on Thursday.

The LNG-powered PSV Siem Thiima, previously named Siem Harmony, is one of three platform supply vessels being delivered to Siem Offshore with the VS 4411 DF design; the other two being the Siem Melody and the Siem Rhapsody. All three vessels are equipped with dual-fuel propulsion, allowing them to operate on LNG as well as marine gas oil (MGO).

At the time of writing, the Siem Thiima is in the Strait of Gibraltar and is due to call at the port of Gibraltar on 8th December. The vessel is on its way to Port Dampier, Western Australia, where it is to operate as part of the Woodside Energy fleet in 2017 and become Australia's first LNG-fuelled marine support vessel. It is the result of a five-year charter contract Woodside signed with Siem Offshore Australia Pty Ltd in April.

"We're thrilled to be the first company to bring one of these vessels to the southern hemisphere. Australia is on track to become the world's largest producer of LNG, so it makes perfect sense to build dual-fuel capabilities for our marine fleets here," Woodside's Chief Operations Officer, Mike Utsler, said earlier this year.

Perth-headquartered Woodside Energy is Australia's largest independent oil and gas company and a key LNG player in the country.

In August, Bunker Index reported that EVOL LNG had been approved by Fremantle Ports to supply LNG-powered marine vessels visiting Fremantle, Western Australia.

Commenting on the company's expansion strategy in Australia four months ago, EVOL LNG's Business Manager, Nick Rea, said: "If interest is there, EVOL LNG will obtain licenses from other major Australian and regional WA ports to conduct LNG bunkering operations."

In September, Polish Oil & Gas Company (PGNiG SA) and Lotos Group delivered 120,000 litres of LNG as bunker fuel to the Siem Harmony during sea trials of the vessel at the Remontowa Shipbuilding shipyard in Gdansk before commissioning. The operation was described by both Polish firms as "the very first logistic project of this kind in Poland".

Image: The platform supply vessel Siem Thiima being bunkered with LNG at Remontowa Shipbuilding shipyard in Gdansk, Poland.


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