Italian shipping company Fratelli Cosulich has placed an order for an LNG bunkering vessel at China's CIMC SinoPacific Offshore & Engineering shipyard, it said on May 10. 

The vessel with approximately 5,300 metric tons of dwt will be able to transport over 8,000 m³ of LNG and 500 m³ of marine gas oil for bunkering. It will be equipped with Wartsila propulsion and power generation systems. Its investment cost is $45mn, the company said. 

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“This important investment reaffirms the group’s commitment to safeguard the environment and to operate with absolute safety,” the company said. “Our efforts are focused on decreasing our footprint, and on contributing to the infrastructure for the entire shipping and logistics sector.” 

Fratelli Cosulich said that since the project is contributing to the decarbonisation of maritime transport by deploying LNG bunkering solutions in the Mediterranean Sea, it may be awarded a grant of €4.5mn ($5.6mn) by the EU under the Connecting Europe Facility programme. 

The vessel will be managed by the recently established Fratelli Cosulich LNG. Delivery of the vessel is expected in the summer of 2023.