South Korean shipping company Pan Ocean has officially named its latest liquified natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessel, which is set to be chartered by energy company Shell LNG. The christening ceremony for the 18,000 cbm ship, named New Frontier 2, took place yesterday. The vessel was constructed by South Korean shipbuilding company Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.

For Shell, this LNG bunkering vessel will be the third unit deployed in the Americas and is part of its fleet of 12 bunker vessels. The charter agreement with Pan Ocean was signed in 2021.

New Frontier 2 is capable of bunkering multiple ship types, both in port and offshore. It offers loading and gas-up/cool-down services to LNG carriers and LNG-fueled vessels.

Tahir Faruqui, Global Head of Downstream LNG at Shell, stated, "Across the globe, we have safely completed more than 1,000 LNG bunker operations. With this latest addition, we are stepping up our support to shipping customers, empowering them to make immediate emission reduction through LNG."

In related news, LNG Shipping, a joint venture between Victrol and Sogestran, recently launched Energy Stockholm, an LNG bunker barge that will also be chartered to Shell. This vessel, Europe's largest inland waterway LNG bunker barge, will conduct bunkering operations in the Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam (ARA) region.