LNG bunkering is gaining traction across power plants that operate with heavy-duty vessels industry

LNG buffering is the process of transferring liquefied natural gas from a container ship to a container ship. The main advantage of LNG in comparison with the conventional method of fueling vessels like heavy fuel oil, Marine diesel fuel (MDO), and marine fuel oil (MHO) is that the LNG tank becomes the main holding area for the product while the other containers or storage are not used at all. In addition to this advantage, the storage tanks also provide easy access to the LNG supply during the transit time.

However, the downside of LNG bunkering is that the cost of transporting LNG to the destination is very high as compared to the costs associated with transporting heavy fuels like diesel, heavy oil, and oil sands. As per some estimates, the transport cost of an average size container of LNG fuel is nearly $1000 per ton. However, with the growing demand for LNG and its increasing demand in different countries around the world, there has been a sudden growth in the number of facilities that deal in the transportation of LNG and related services.

The major benefit of LNG bunkering is the relatively low transportation cost as compared to the conventional method of fueling vessels like diesel, heavy oil, and petroleum. However, the major disadvantage of LNG is its environmental impact on the environment. Some studies have shown that there is an alarming increase in the production of greenhouse gases in the last few years due to the use of LNG by shipping companies for powering ships. However, most of the ships now run on LNG for their power generation purposes. Moreover, the environmental impact of using LNG for power generation is very negligible.

Recently, a heavy-lift ship carrying four IMO Type C LNG fuel tanks for the largest LNG bunkering vessel under construction in the US has sailed from Shanghai, China for Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.