In December 2018, the world’s largest LNG bunker supply vessel Kairos started operations in Northwest Europe. Chartered by Blue LNG, a joint venture of the Hamburg-based LNG supplier Nauticor and the Lithuanian energy infrastructure provider KN, the ship was handed over by the owner Babcock Schulte Energy in the port of Klaipeda.

The construction of the vessel started in 2016 when the joint venture signed a time-charter agreement with ship owner Babcock Schulte Energy. In February 2018, steel cutting took place at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Ulsan, South Korea. In October 2018, the vessel was delivered by the shipyard.

With a tank capacity of 7,500 cubic meters, Kairos is the world’s largest LNG bunker supply vessel. The ice-class vessel has several other unique features, including a ballast-free design and installation of a CNG tank to store vapor return gas from customer vessels. —Nauticor GmbH & Co KG