Kairos supplies first LNG bunker in Baltic port
The 7,500 cbm vessel, Kairos, entered service in February 2019. The operation, which was conducted at the port’s ferry pier, marked the first LNG bunkering operation for Visborg. Nauticor and Destination Gotland, the owner and operator of the new ferry, has signed a long-term supply agreement in December 2017.
“The start of LNG bunkering for Destination Gotland’s new LNG-fuelled ferry Visborg marks the start-up of bunker operations with our new LNG bunker supply vessel Kairos and shows that the availability of LNG as fuel for shipping on a large-scale basis is secured in Northwest Europe”, said Mahinde Abeynaike, CEO of Nauticor.
The 4,800-dwt Visborg was delivered to Destination Gotland in December 2018 at Guangzhou International Shipyard in December 2018 and was due to enter commercial service in Q2 2019. A second LNG-fuelled RoPax, Thjelvar, is scheduled for delivery in mid-2019 after the conclusion of sea trials.
Kairos has been assigned to operations in the Baltic region under charter to the joint undertaking known as Blue LNG, in which Hamburg-based Nauticor has a 90% holding, partnered by Lithuanian energy infrastructure provider Klaipedos Nafta with a 10% stake. Nauticor is the Linde Group’s dedicated supplier of LNG fuel for maritime applications.
