Image: Gasum

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LNG supplier Nauticor has conducted its first ship-to-ship LNG bunker delivery to a product tanker in Germany.

The operation, which was also the first to take place since the company officially became a subsidiary of Nordic energy company Gasum on April 30, was carried out at the river Elbe port of Brunsbüttel on May 6.

Performing the delivery to the product tanker Ramelia was the 7,500-cubic-metre-capacity supply vessel Kairos.

The operation forms part of the LNG supply agreement signed by Furetank Rederi and Nauticor in 2018. The vessel is owned by Donsö-based Älvtank and managed by the tanker pool of the Gothia Tanker Alliance.

"By using LNG as fuel we are working on reducing the environmental impact through lower emissions and less noise. Having access to a comprehensive LNG supply network is a prerequisite to do so and we are glad that thanks to the efforts of Nauticor and Gasum the availability of LNG is secured in a growing number of places in Northwest Europe," said Christian Nilsson, Managing Director of Älvtank.

Signed in November, Gasum's deal to buy assets operated by Linde brands Nauticor and AGA included the acquisition of an LNG liquefaction plant, two LNG terminals and two LNG bunkering vessels.

The takeover was formally approved by the Norwegian Competition Authority (NCA) without conditions on March 12, whilst the Swedish Competition Authority (SCA) finally cleared the deal on March 24 after Gasum made voluntary commitments to ensure that the merger would not negatively affect competition.

The SCA had initially found in its January investigation that it could not be ruled out that the proposed merger would hamper competition - particularly in terms of the supply of LNG to industrial customers.

Consequently, in an effort to circumvent the prospect of a lengthy SCA investigation, Gasum submitted a voluntary commitment proposal in February for third parties to also be given the chance to use the LNG terminal in Nynäshamn. The commitment, which was subsequently approved by the SCA, has a validity of ten years.

"The acquisition of Nauticor is an important step in Gasum's growth strategy and the successful bunkering of Ramelia underlines our commitment to develop the clean marine bunkering business in Northwest Europe, adding Germany to the list of countries we are active in to ensure the availability of environmentally friendly LNG for our customers," said Jacob Granqvist, Sales Director Maritime in Gasum, on Wednesday.