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Engie, Fluxys, Mitsubishi Corporation, and NYK have taken delivery of the world's first purpose-built liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessel from Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd., at the Yeongdo shipyard in Busan, Korea.

The vessel is due to operate at the Belgian port of Zeebrugge and has been named Engie Zeebrugge accordingly.

The 5,000-cubic-metre-LNG-capacity bunkering vessel will supply LNG as a marine fuel to ships operating in Northern Europe. Two LNG-fuelled pure car and truck carriers (PCTC) operated by United European Car Carriers (UECC) - including the recently named MV Auto Eco - will be its first customers.

Engie Zeebrugge will load LNG at Fluxys' LNG terminal in Zeebrugge, where small carriers with capacities from 2,000 cubic metres can dock at the recently commissioned second jetty.

Last September, Engie, Mitsubishi Corporation and NYK launched 'Gas4Sea', a brand name for their joint LNG bunkering business. It was the result of a framework agreement signed by the three companies back in 2014 to form a partnership to provide LNG bunkering services.

In addition to Northern Europe, the three Gas4Sea partners have said that they plan to expand their LNG bunkering services into other regions in the future.

Engie Zeebrugge - vessel details:

Length overall: 107.60 metres

Breadth: 18.40 metres

Depth: 9.00 metres

LNG capacity: 5,000 cubic metres

Gross tonnage: 7,403 tonnes

Main engine: Dual fuel (marine gas oil, marine diesel oil, and LNG)

CountryFlag: Belgium

Class: Bureau Veritas

Shipyard: Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd., Yeongdo Shipyard (Busan)

Ship management: NYK Energy Transport (Atlantic) Ltd. (NYK LNG Shipmanagement (UK) Ltd.)