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The port of Gothenburg witnessed on Friday its first LNG bunkering of a ship whilst loading was taking place.

The milestone delivery - to the Terntank-operated the Tern Ocean - came just a few weeks after the Swedish port recorded its very first ship-to-ship supply of LNG at quayside.

In the interim, meanwhile, five ships bunkered whilst they were at anchor just outside the port. The newly constructed bunker and distribution vessel Coralius is operating in the area, with LNG being supplied by Skangas.

"Even 5-10 years ago the idea of ships running on liquefied natural gas would have almost been regarded as science fiction. Now we have had seven LNG bunkerings here in less than a month. It would be no exaggeration to describe this as a major breakthrough," remarked Dan-Erik Andersson, operations manager at Gothenburg's Energy Port.

The EU Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive states that it should be possible to bunker LNG at what are termed Sweden's core ports (Lulea, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Copenhagen/Malmo and Trelleborg) before 2025. Gothenburg has already realised this ambition in full, and is currently the only port to do so.

According to Andersson, this is due to a number of key factors, coupled with effective collaboration between various companies and organisations.

"This development has been driven from different directions. We have shipping companies and energy producers that have had the foresight to invest responsibly in the long term, as well as public agencies that have been compliant with regard to the regulatory framework. The Sulphur Directive introduced in 2015 has spurred us on, and at the Gothenburg Port Authority we have offered incentives in the form of fuel transition discounts and other financial inducements."

As LNG bunkering becomes more commonplace at Gothenburg, with an increase in the number of calls and efficient handling systems and routines, the port says it is continuing to move forward. There are also other bunkering projects on the horizon.

Next year, Swedegas will build a pipeline for LNG at the Energy Port in Gothenburg. The investment will also mark the starting point for the construction, in stages, of a larger facility that will supply both the transport sector and Swedish industry with liquefied gas.