Container for LNG Hybrid Barge Reaches Hamburg

In the coming year, the HUMMEL (bumblebee) LNG Hybrid Barge will enable Becker Marine Systems to supply low-emission power to cruise ships lying at port in Hamburg. The first container with liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel has now arrived in the Hanseatic City.

As part of the LNG Hybrid Barge’s testing program, the first gas container for the marine fuel was delivered on Monday. “The testing of the gas engines at the Port of Hamburg is a first for both the classification society and participating authorities,” said Dirk Lehmann and Henning Kuhlmann, both Managing Directors of the global market leader for high-performance rudders.

The gas container from Shell Ganor, represented by Aksel Skjervheim, Marine LNG Business Development Manager, was formally delivered to Becker Marine Systems at the Blohm + Voss shipyard. The container with the marine fuel had previously made the journey from the Fluxys LNG Terminal in Zeebrugge, Belgium to Hamburg.

The barge works like a floating power plant and uses low-emission LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) to supply environmentally-friendly energy to cruise ships. Compared to conventional marine diesel with 0.1% sulphur content, sulphur dioxides and soot are no longer emitted. Emissions of nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide are also significantly reduced.

The LNG Hybrid Barge, developed by Becker Marine Systems and recently christened the HUMMEL (bumblebee), will officially commence operations at the Port of Hamburg at the beginning of the cruise season in spring 2015.