The Port of Antwerp is calling for tenders to set up a new LNG bunkering station for barges.

The move will make LNG permanently available to barges at Antwerp, increasing its feasibility as a fuel “to break out of the chicken-and-egg situation” of barges not adopting LNG-fuelling because of a lack of availability, according to a Port Authority statement.

Previously, barges at Antwerp had been supplied by trucks, which load up at the Zeebrugge LNG import terminal before travelling over.

Antwerp is now calling for a partner to design and build the LNG bunkering station, which must enable trucks to fill up with LNG as well as barges. Antwerp Port Authority notes: “It should be possible for barges to fill up with LNG at a permanent bunkering station in the port of Antwerp by the beginning of 2016.”

The project will be partially subsidised by the European Commission TEN-T programme, designed to promote LNG as a fuel. The plan follows in the wake of a number of initiatives for LNG bunkering infrastructure around Europe, which include projects in Portsmouth, an LNG terminal at the Port of Rotterdam, and a construction project for a new LNG bunkering terminal at Gothenburg as well as a plan to cut port dues for LNG-powered vessels by 30%.