The new 117-meter-long vessel, with an LNG capacity of 7,500 m³, in addition to its main purpose, the supply of LNG to different types of marine customers, will be used to load LNG from the FSRU based in the Klaipeda LNG Terminal to the onshore LNG reloading station located at the gateway of the Port of Klaipeda.
"Having launched the operation of Kairos, we will assure more competitive service prices for users of the LNG reloading station and position KN as a company offering the whole LNG supply chain to its clients. This will not only reduce the price of the LNG supply chain, but also will assure a smooth and prompt service provision for users of the reloading station," Mindaugas Jusius, CEO at Klaipedos Nafta, said.
The LNG bunkering and reloading infrastructure will be of high relevance in 2020, when global restrictions will be imposed on emissions of sulphur dioxide from shipping to the atmosphere. Merchant vessels using heavy fuel oil will have to search for more ecological alternatives, out of which LNG is considered to be one of the most efficient.
Kairos is expected to enter Klaipeda at least once per two months and to perform LNG reloading operations there. For the remaining time the vessel will be used by German company Nauticor, which is planning to use the vessel to supply LNG to various marine customers as well as LNG terminals in the North Sea and Baltic Sea area.
Chartered by Blue LNG, a joint venture of the Hamburg-based leading LNG supplier Nauticor with a 90% share and LNG terminal operator Klaipedos Nafta (KN) with a 10% share, the ship is owned by Babcock Schulte Energy (BSE).
