Barcelona completes first ship-to-ship bio-LNG bunkering for a cruise ship

TUI Cruises-operated cruise ship Mein Schiff Relax has received around 838 mt of bio-LNG in a ship-to-ship transfer in the Spanish port of Barcelona.

IMAGE: Bio-LNG bunkering of TUI Cruises-operated vessel in Barcelona. TUI Cruises

This operation "has led the first bio-LNG supply to a ship from a barge at the Port of Barcelona," the port authority said.

The fuel was supplied to the cruise ship, Mein Schiff Relax, using Shell’s chartered LNG bunker tanker, Haugesund Knutsen, from Norway’s Knutsen Scale Gas.

The bio-LNG, certified under ISCC-EU standards, was sourced from organic waste and produced at Enagás' regasification plant at the Port of Barcelona.

However, the company has not disclosed additional details, including whether a mass balance accounting approach was used in its production.

Also known as liquefied biomethane (LBM), bio-LNG consists of around 99.8% methane. LNG-capable vessels can operate on pure LBM or LBM-LNG blends without requiring any modifications.

By Tuhin Roy

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