‘Boring’ LNG bunkering business just keeps growing

Singapore’s LNG bunkering volumes continue to increase. The business is growing steadily, and several players provide a competitive and efficient landscape for LNG bunkering. Three companies are now licensed to operate as suppliers of LNG bunkering fuels in Singapore: FuelLNG with its LNG bunkering ships, the 7,500-m3 FueLNG Bellina and 18,000-m3 FueLNG Venosa; Pavilion Energy operates MOL’s LNG bunkering vessel, the 12,000-m3 Brassavola; and TotalEnergies Marine Fuels, which is also using Brassavola.

According to Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA), LNG bunker sales totalled 212,000 tonnes in H1 2024.

On the other side of the world, Rotterdam LNG bunkering volumes also show strength and Gate’s small-scale jetty handled 57 vessels in Q1 2024. The prospects are so good that Gate terminal is even exploring building a new jetty to support LNG bunkering.

“More planning and risk takers will be needed”

In other news the Shell-chartered LNG bunkering vessel Progress performed its first successful bunkering operation, German shipyard Meyer Werft is building an LNG-powered cruise ship and Italy’s Fincantieri is constructing three others, and recently launched the 178,000-gt Star Princess at its Monfalcome shipyard. The 4,300-passenger vessel is the second LNG-fuelled cruise ship built by Fincantieri for Princess Cruises, and will be delivered in H2 2025. A new LNG terminal is being planned by GFI LNG and Pilot LNG for Salina Cruz in Mexico to serve ships at the Panama Canal and Peninsula has signed an agreement for a new LNG bunkering vessel.

All this gives us a picture of a solid business expanding all over the world at a steady rate but where not all parts go at the same pace. For instance, will there be enough bunkering vessels for all this demand?

Maybe, but more planning and risk takers will be needed.

Not everything is that rosy though. Both Singapore and Rotterdam ports have created an agreement to promote the use of alternative fuels in the (surprise!) Singapore-Rotterdam corridor to guarantee availability of fuels in this route, because this is not a problem that can be solved by individual ports but by global collaboration and effort. Although obviously done in their own self-interest, these types of agreements help promote the use of new fuels and global business.

All in all, an incredibly boring business that works and grows, with an existing fleet of about 61 LNG bunkering vessels, and at least another 12 on order, according to DNV Alternative Fuels Insight.

Maybe the non-boring part is the announcement by Maersk Line that it will be placing large orders for LNG dual-fuelled ships. This is a substantial change in its approach to alternative fuels and this announcement pushes LNG as a real-world solution even further.

So yes, LNG bunkering is getting boring in several parts of the world and that is a good sign, showing that LNG bunkering is being accepted by all the parties in the industry and becoming a given, where people do not worry about it anymore. The business is safe from a technical and business perspective and can be done in an efficient way in several parts of the world, allowing for a stable and predictable supply chain. Boring is always good in business!