Panfido's LNG bunker system presented on site

• 17 Nov 2021

At the end of October in Ravenna, at the Rosetti Marino shipyard, the company Panfido (Calderan Group) and the builder presented the progress of the LNG bunker platform that will be operational in the Adriatic Sea by next summer. The project has a value of approximately 40 million euros, 9.5 of which funded by the European Union.

The platform is integrated forward by a tug which is an integral part of the system. The Panfido project, active in port towing in Venice and Chioggia and on the high seas, is the first of its kind in Europe (a similar apparatus is in use in the ports of Florida, but with the tug built into the stern). The refueling capacity of the barge is 4,000 cubic meters of LNG (or bioLNG) divided into two cryogenic tanks of 2,000 cubic meters each.

The system represents a real “floating service station” available to LNG ships that will visit the ports of Venice and Marghera and other Adriatic ports. The Venice LNG storage facility of 30,000 cubic meters of LNG is planned in the port of Marghera, where the barge will eventually be able to refuel (the open season for booking the plant services is underway).

To power the LNG tug alone, refueling with tankers from the dock will suffice. Both the refueling from the platform to the ships and that from the dock require the development of the relevant regulations by the competent port authorities. The ships that will be able to use the Panfido system are the cruise ships and all the other LNG vessels that usually carry out supplies not exceeding 4000 cubic meters. and those authorized to navigate in the Venice Lagoon.

The platform, called Cargo Unit, is 109 meters long by 26.7 wide. It has a variable draft between 3.7 and 6 meters. Combined with the tug that fits stern into the structure forming a whole and also ensuring emergency maneuvers, it develops a speed of 7 knots. The SBBT (Semi Ballastable Barge Transporter) system was developed in collaboration with the Northern Adriatic Sea System Authority and developed by Panfido.

The top management of the Panfido company and the Port Authority of Venice, during the visit to the platform which has already descended into the water and which is currently being set up, expressed their full satisfaction with the progress of the project which is part of the European initiative Poseidon Med.