NYK Line, Partners Launch New Brand for LNG Bunkering

ENGIE Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) along with French multinational electric utility company ENGIE andf Japans Mitsubishi Corporation have launched Gas4Sea, a new brand for their joint marketing of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel. The parties said that Gas4Sea aims to lead innovation through the ship-to-ship supply of LNG for the maritime sector. The announcement comes on the back of a framework agreement for a partnership to develop LNG bunkering services concluded between ENGIE, Mitsubishi Corporation and NYK in 2014. By combining NYK’s shipping expertise with ENGIE and Mitsubishi Corporation’s LNG supply portfolio and terminal access under the brand Gas4Sea, the partners will offer a cleaner, reliable, safe, and cost-effective service to shipping customers worldwide, NYK said. The companies will begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2016, using a purpose-built LNG bunkering vessel (LBV) with a 5,000 cm LNG capacity, which will be able to bunker vessels at the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, as well as other nearby ports. The partners said that they plan to expand their LNG bunkering services under Gas4Sea to meet more customers’ needs into other regions, in collaboration with stakeholders including shipping companies, port authorities, terminal operators, regional suppliers, and local governments and regulators. We are proud to launch this first global LNG bunkering service together with our longstanding partners. In the general framework of energy transition, we believe LNG has a key role to play in developing a more sustainable shipping activity. In the coming months, we will start supplying United European Car Carriers’ new dual fuel car carriers operating in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, Philip Olivier, CEO of ENGIE Global LNG, said.