The 23,000 TEU containership received around 17,300 m3 of LNG, making it the largest LNG bunkering operation to ever take place.
The bunkering operation was performed by the Gas Agility at the Rotterdam World Gateway terminal by means of a ship-to-ship transfer, while the Cma Cgm Jacques Saadé carried out cargo operations simultaneously. The supply of LNG was provided by Total Marine Fuels Global Solutions, Total’s dedicated business unit in charge of worldwide bunkering activities. Refuelling took approximately 24 hours to complete.
As part of this milestone operation, the carbon footprint of the LNG delivered was further reduced with the introduction of biomethane for approximately 13% of the quantity delivered, through the Guarantee of Origin (GO) certificates mechanism. The biomethane is produced in the Schipol area in the Netherlands, mainly by organic municipal waste.
The pioneering bunkering operation is a ground-breaking development for the global LNG market and demonstrates Total and CMA CGM’s pledge to advance the use of LNG as a marine fuel. They call it the best, immediately available solution in terms of energy transition to help reduce the environmental footprint of maritime transport.
Jérôme Leprince-Ringuet, marine fuels vice president at Total called it the culmination of a three-year collaboration between the companies, and added that it also marks the shipping industry’s first commercial use of biomethane on this scale.