Gasum’s Coralius to operate exclusively on bio-LNG

Finnish state-owned energy company Gasum has announced that its LNG bunkering vessel Coralius will begin running entirely on bio-LNG from this month.

IMAGE: Gasum’s LNG bunkering vessel Coralius. Gasum

Also known as liquefied biomethane (LBM), bio-LNG consists of approximately 99.8% methane. LNG-capable vessels can run on either pure LBM or LBM-LNG blends without any modifications.

The generated FuelEU Maritime over-compliance will be made available to shipowners through Gasum’s pooling service.

The EU’s FuelEU Maritime regulation includes a pooling mechanism that enables shipowners to collectively balance compliance across a group of vessels. Within this system, ships that exceed GHG reduction targets can sell their compliance surpluses to underperforming vessels in the same pool, helping offset shortfalls and avoid penalties.

Meanwhile, the bunker barge Coralius—capable of supplying both LNG and bio-LNG—recently marked its 1,000th LNG bunkering operation. The delivery, made to the cruise ship MSC Euribia at the Port of Kiel, Germany, involved an undisclosed volume of LNG.

Over its eight years of service, Coralius has delivered more than 270,000 mt of LNG to a wide range of vessels, both large and small.

Gasum anticipates that bio-LNG demand will “intensify as a result of tightening regulations and end-customer requirements,” and is committed “to increasing the availability of bio-LNG.”

To support this, the company has chartered a new bunkering vessel, Celsius, which will expand its bio-LNG delivery fleet once it is delivered in 2027.

Additionally, in May, Gasum announced that its LNG bunker vessel Kairos will run on waste-based bio-LNG, generating overcompliance under the company’s FuelEU pooling scheme.

By Tuhin Roy

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