Image credit: Balearia

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The first LNG bunker delivery at the Spanish port of Valencia was carried out last week, on June 9.

Gas Natural Fenosa supplied Balearia's ferry, the Abel Matutes, in a truck-to-ship operation at Valencia's Turia quay.

As previously reported, the 2010-built Abel Matutes has been retrofitted with a 30-cubic-metre LNG storage tank and an auxiliary natural gas engine built by Rolls-Royce.

Towards the end of this year, Balearia's two new, dual-fuel, gas-powered ferries - currently under construction at the Cantiere Navale Visentini shipyard in Italy - are due to become operational.

Balearia's fourth LNG-fuelled ferry, which was ordered in 2016 from Construcciones Navales del Norte shipyard in Spain, is scheduled to enter into regular service in 2019.

Back in January, Fenosa and Balearia signed Spain's - and the Iberian Peninsula's - first multi-year, fixed-term LNG bunker supply agreement.

The exclusive supply deal is for 10 years and will initially be for deliveries in Barcelona, Valencia and Algeciras, but will extend to all the Iberian Peninsula ports at which the ferry firm operates, as well as the company's new fleet of LNG-powered ships.

As part of the agreement, Fenosa will have a dedicated LNG supply vessel in Barcelona, and a land-based supply solution in place for Valencia and Algeciras.