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Shell's LNG bunker vessel Cardissa was christened at its home port of Rotterdam on Tuesday.

The newly built 6,500-cbm-capacity vessel, which was constructed at the STX shipyard in South Korea, arrived in Rotterdam for the first time on August 10.

Owned by Shell Western LNG B.V. and co-financed by the European Union's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the Cardissa will be used to perform deliveries to customers in northwest Europe, sourcing product from the Gas Access to Europe (Gate) terminal in Rotterdam.

Speaking during the event, Port of Rotterdam Authority's Cees Boon said the vessel was "groundbreaking", whilst adding that it represented the launch of "a whole new world" for the bunkering sector.

As Buker Index reported last week, the Cardissa completed the delivery of 1,000 cubic metres (cbm) of LNG into tanks at the new reloading station in Klaipeda, Lithuania, after sourcing product from Klaipedos Nafta's floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Independence. It was the first LNG reload operation from a small-scale LNG vessel into the newly constructed onshore station.

The Cardissa also made history in Southeast Asia earlier this year when it acted as receiving vessel during Singapore LNG Corporation Pte Ltd's (SLNG) first small-scale reload.

Shell has also recently moved to increase its LNG transportation capacity in northwest Europe with the charter of a 3,000-cbm-capacity LNG bunker barge in August.

Image: Christening ceremony for the Cardissa LNG bunker vessel, owned and operated by Shell Western LNG B.V. Image credit: Shell.