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A recently launched Berlin-based shipping body says it has set a target of five years for at least 50 vessels to have been fitted or retrofitted to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), Mercator Media reports.

The Maritime LNG Platform already has 17 members from the shipping industry and says it is hoping to increase its membership to 50 within its first year.

Existing members include AG Ems, DS Schiffahrt and TUI Cruises and German port operators Hamburg Port Authority, bremenports, Lower Saxony Ports, the ports of Brunsbüttel, Wärtsilä, MAN Diesel and Turbo, Shell Deutschland, Bomin Linde LNG, Gasunie and Greenplug.

Mahinde Abeynaike, head of Bomin Linde LNG and chairman of Maritime LNG Platform, is quoted as saying: "The target of establishing innovative and eco-friendly technology can only be achieved if we act together." The presence of competitors the among group’s members underscored the determination to do this, he added.

The new platform said that it wanted to see at least five further ports in Germany equipped to handle and supply ships that are LNG-ready.