Maritime demand for LNG bunker will grow to some 4-7 mill, t in 2020, classification society DNV predicts in a recent study. Though Europe will be the largest growth market in this segment, many ports still remain at an early stage of implementation. Scandinavia and the Netherlands set the pace with modern LNG bunker facilities in Stockholm and Rotterdam. Now the EU has launched a programme in favour of LNG bunker stations in 139 ports on a Trans European Core Network. Taken Europe's predicted role in LNG fuelled shipping, appropriate infrastructure turns out to be even more relevant. While offshore vessels, tankers and passenger ships will all increasingly demand LNG on comparable levels in Europe, in North America offshore is regarded the most promising segment for LNG as marine fuel, while Japan, Korea, India and the Middle East will predominantly use LNG as ship fuel for tankers. German bunker projects in Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Lübeck, Rostock and Wilhelmshaven, however, are still at a comparatively early stage. In the French port of Dunkirk an LNG import terminal is already being built while EU provides money for a bunker station as part of the Trans European Core Network. In North America Shell plans two 250,000t LNG bunker stations, and China invests at Yangtze river to supply 20 ships each day starting this year. Taken its great potential the technology offers prospects for new business models and alliances.
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