Petronas begins LNG bunkering operations, completes first delivery

Houston — Malaysia's Petronas completed its first LNG bunkering delivery to the Pasir Gudang Port in Johor on Nov. 9, Marine Department Malaysia, or JLM, said on Nov. 10.

The project supplied 1,150 mt of LNG from bunkering ship Avenir Advantage to vehicle carrier ship Siem Aristotle.

The Avenir Advantage is a dual-purpose LNG bunkering and supply vessel, with a 7,500 cu m capacity, built by Keppel Offshore & Marine at the Nantong Shipyard, Jiangsu province, China.

In October, Petronas chartered the Avenir Advantage from Future Horizon, a joint venture between MISC Berhad and Avenir LNG. The vessel will provide ship-to-ship LNG bunkering services to the Malaysian market and deliver LNG to small-scale customers.

Malaysia started developing the infrastructure necessary to support LNG bunkering operations in the region in 2017, aiming to become a bunker hub in Southeast Asia, according to JLM.

"This makes Malaysia among a few first-mover countries able to provide LNG bunkering services to the marine industry in the east," JLM said.