Image: Nauticor

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Nauticor reports that its new LNG bunker supply vessel, Kairos, has entered the final phase prior to its delivery to Europe.

The vessel's keel was laid down on February 26 at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in Ulsan, South Korea, and it is scheduled to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The new 7,500-cubic-metre (cbm) gas supply vessel was developed by shipowner Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) in conjunction with Babcock International.

BSM agreed in October 2016 to charter the vessel out to a joint venture in which Bomin Linde LNG (Nauticor's previous company name) had a 90 percent share in the business and Klaipedos Nafta owned the remaining 10 percent.

The Kairos is to be used to supply ships and small-scale LNG terminals along the Baltic Sea coast. For Klaipedos Nafta, operator of the Klaipeda Oil Terminal in Klaipeda, Lithuania, the vessel will be used to transport LNG to its onshore LNG reloading station.

Amongst the key features of the new vessel will be azimuth thrusters and pump jets to ensure high manoeuvrability. Frequency-driven pumps with high flow rates will allow for the fast transfer of LNG to vessels with short layovers, and offshore bunkering will be possible using DP2 technology.

The Kairos will also be the first of its kind to utilise Babcock's FGSV0 technology for the delivery of LNG into the receiving vessel.

Earlier this year, Nauticor conducted Germany's largest ever LNG bunkering operation at Elbehafen in Brunsbuttel with the delivery of 85 tonnes to DEME Group's hopper dredger, Scheldt River.

And the Hamburg-based supplier extended its network in North Europe during the month of February with the launch of LNG deliveries at Europe's biggest port, Rotterdam.