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Bomin Linde LNG has carried out the first LNG bunker delivery to a chemical tanker in Germany.

The Fure West, a chemical and oil tanker owned by Swedish firm Furetank Rederi AB, was refuelled with LNG at the port of Rostock - Germany's largest Baltic Sea port - on 2nd February.

In total, four trucks were used to supply the required amount of LNG to the Fure West.

Sonja Nesshoever, Director LNG Portfolio of Bomin Linde LNG, remarked: "The truck-to-ship bunkering process went smoothly thanks to the seamless coordination between the ship's crew and our Bomin Linde experts onshore."

Furetank's managing director, Lars Hoglund, commented: "We are happy that we are able to bunker LNG in an increasing number of ports, including Rostock. Jointly developing the LNG market is the basis for successfully establishing LNG as a ship fuel."

Rostock Port's managing director, Jens Aurel Scharner, noted: "We are pleased to see that not only supply by truck, but also by bunker vessel might be an option in the long run."

Built in 2006, the Fure West became one of the first tankers to run on LNG when it was retrofitted in 2015. The 144-metre-long vessel had Caterpillar Marine's Mak M 43 C dual-fuel engine installed, thus enabling it to use LNG fuel. Caterpillar also supplied the complete gas system for the tanker, including bunker stations, two LNG tanks measuring 4.15 metres by 24 metres and the vaporizer.

In November, Bunker Index reported that the Fure West was the first vessel to be bunkered with LNG at the port of Amsterdam.

The tanker is currently one of two LNG-fuelled vessels receiving the biggest discount on port fees - 30 percent - at the port of Gothenburg.

Six LNG-fuelled ships; agreement with Bomin Linde

Since the Fure West's retrofit was announced, Sweden's Furetank has been involved in the joint order of six dual-fuel vessels with together with Rederi AB Alvtank and Thun Tankers BV as part of the Gothia Tanker Alliance. Three of the vessels will be owned by Furetank, two by Rederi AB Alvtank and one by Thun Tankers. All six vessels are to commercially managed by Furetank Chartering; they are scheduled to be delivered between 2018 and 2019.

In October, Bomin Linde LNG signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Furetank Rederi that will see Bomin Linde LNG supply four ships using its new gas supply vessel (GSV), which is scheduled to be delivered in 2018.