UECC Expands its LNG Ope­ra­ti­ons in the Mediterranean

United Euro­pean Car Car­ri­ers (UECC), the lea­ding pro­vi­der of sus­tainable short sea ro-ro trans­por­ta­ti­on in Euro­pe, rea­ched a signi­fi­cant mile­stone on May 25th, 2023, as their state-of-the-art LNG Dual Fuel ves­sel, Auto Ener­gy, suc­cessful­ly com­ple­ted its first LNG bun­ke­ring ope­ra­ti­on in the Medi­ter­ra­ne­an. The deli­very, pro­vi­ded by renow­ned Spa­nish ener­gy com­pa­ny Rep­sol, marks an important step for­ward in UECC’s com­mit­ment to expan­ding its geo­gra­phi­cal scope of LNG ope­ra­ti­ons and pro­mo­ting envi­ron­men­tal sus­taina­bi­li­ty within the mari­ti­me industry.

The suc­cessful bun­ke­ring ope­ra­ti­on took place in the port of Sagun­to, Spain, being first LNG bun­ke­ring ope­ra­ti­on in this port and was made pos­si­ble through the col­la­bo­ra­ti­ve efforts of UECC, Rep­sol, ESK and local aut­ho­ri­ties. This mile­stone high­lights the strong part­ner­ship bet­ween UECC and Rep­sol, as they work tog­e­ther to enhan­ce the acces­si­bi­li­ty and avai­la­bi­li­ty of LNG as a sus­tainable mari­ne fuel opti­on throug­hout Europe.

Mr. Dani­el Gent, Ener­gy and Sus­taina­bi­li­ty Mana­ger for UECC, expres­sed his enthu­si­asm regar­ding this achie­ve­ment, sta­ting, „We are thril­led to have suc­cessful­ly bun­ke­red LNG for the first time in the Medi­ter­ra­ne­an, thanks to the excel­lent col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with Rep­sol and the sup­port of ESK and Sagun­to Port Aut­ho­ri­ty. This mile­stone show­ca­ses our com­mit­ment to exten­ding the reach of our sus­tainable ope­ra­ti­ons, redu­cing emis­si­ons, and pro­mo­ting a gree­ner future for the mari­ti­me industry.“

Repre­sen­ting Rep­sol, Ms. Euge­nia Bert­rand, Head of Green Gases and LNG New Uses added, „Rep­sol is deligh­ted to have part­ne­red with UECC to faci­li­ta­te their first LNG bun­ke­ring ope­ra­ti­on in the Medi­ter­ra­ne­an. This col­la­bo­ra­ti­on ali­gns with our ambi­ti­on to pro­gress in the ener­gy tran­si­ti­on and con­tri­bu­te to the decar­bo­niza­ti­on of the mari­ti­me sec­tor. We look for­ward to fur­ther streng­thening our part­ner­ship with UECC and sup­port­ing their future endea­vours in pro­mo­ting sus­tainable and effi­ci­ent mari­ti­me transportation.“

Lique­fied Natu­ral Gas (LNG) is a more envi­ron­men­tal­ly fri­end­ly alter­na­ti­ve to con­ven­tio­nal mari­ne fuels, redu­cing CO2 emis­si­ons by more than 20% and signi­fi­cant­ly redu­cing emis­si­ons of sul­fur oxi­des (SOx), nitro­gen oxi­des (NOx), and par­ti­cu­la­te mat­ter. By adop­ting LNG as a fuel source, UECC con­ti­nues to demons­tra­te its com­mit­ment to sus­taina­bi­li­ty and proac­tively addres­ses the incre­asing­ly strin­gent envi­ron­men­tal regu­la­ti­ons gover­ning the ship­ping industry.

The suc­cessful LNG bun­ke­ring ope­ra­ti­on in the Medi­ter­ra­ne­an opens doors to new pos­si­bi­li­ties for UECC, enab­ling the com­pa­ny to offer gree­ner trans­por­ta­ti­on solu­ti­ons across a wider ran­ge of Euro­pean rou­tes. By broa­de­ning its geo­gra­phi­cal scope of LNG ope­ra­ti­ons, UECC rein­forces its posi­ti­on as a pio­neer in sus­tainable mari­ti­me trans­port, con­tri­bu­ting to the reduc­tion of green­house gas emis­si­ons and pro­mo­ting a more sus­tainable future for the industry.

This new mile­stone for Rep­sol is ano­ther exam­p­le of the company’s com­mit­ment to the decar­bo­niza­ti­on of trans­port, with a multi-technological approach using all available solu­ti­ons to reach zero net emis­si­ons by 2050.