On 18 March 2019 a ceremony was held at Damen Yichang Shipyard, China, to mark the start of cutting steel for the first of a planned series of short-sea LNG Bunker vessels to be built for Eesti Gaas of Estonia.
The 6,000m³ capacity vessel and its future sisterships are intended to accelerate the wider adoption of LNG as a cleaner alternative fuel in the north-eastern region of the Baltic Sea by providing a mobile and efficient ship-to-ship distribution service for the first time.
At the ceremony the first sections of the 100m LGC 6000 LNG class vessel were cut from 8mm steel plate and will eventually be part of the wall separating the ship’s engine room from the tank hold.
Assembly will start in May with the installation of the LNG tanks scheduled for November.
Following sea trials, the ship will arrive in Estonia next summer and will start serving LNG clients in the autumn.
The new vessel will be capable of carrying out bunker activities at designated locations both in and outside ports.
The LGC 6000 LNG is designed to meet the requirements of ICE class 1A certification, allowing her to operate all year in the Gulf of Finland and the northern Baltic.
She will also achieve green ship notation.
A dual-fuel propulsion system will be used for the management of the Boil-Off Gas (BOG) in combination with a gas burner, and the interior of the vessel will feature high-quality accommodation for her crew.
