Total and CMA CGM complete world’s largest liquefied natural gas bunkering operation at Port of Rotterdam
Liquefied fuel transferred via ship-to-ship operation, allowing cargo operations to continue simultaneously
Total and CMA CGM undertook a ship-to-ship bunkering operation to transfer Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to the world’s largest LNG-powered cargo ship in a world’s first.
It was performed by the bunker vessel the Gas Agility at the Rotterdam World Gateway terminal, while the CMA CGM Jacques Saadé carried out cargo operations simultaneously.
Refuelling took approximately 24 hours to complete, and the supply of LNG was provided by Total Marine Fuels Global Solutions, Total’s dedicated business unit in charge of worldwide bunkering activities.
The 23,000 TEU CMA CGM Jacques Saadé is the first of her class and began operations very recently, being launched in September 2020 in Shanghai.
The shipping industry is putting a lot of its hopes on LNG as an alternative fuel in light of tightening emissions regulations and more scrutiny on the industry’s role in the fight against climate change. CMA CGM says that it estimates that one these new class of LNG-powered vessels removes 99% of sulphur emissions, 99% of fine particles emissions, and lowers nitrogen oxide emissions by up to up to 85% and carbon dioxide by 20%.
Total said in a release that the carbon footprint of the LNG delivered was further reduced with the introduction of biomethane, which made up 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.
“We are really proud of this landmark achievement, which is the culmination of a 3-year close collaboration between Total and CMA CGM,” said Jérôme Leprince-Ringuet, Vice President Marine Fuels at Total. “It also marks the shipping industry’s first commercial use of biomethane on this scale. Such introduction reflects Total’s ambition to get to Net Zero by 2050 and our commitment to help reduce the carbon intensity of the energy products used by our customers.”