SABIC to use “world’s first” low emission gas carriers from UK port

Two new liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered sea vessels have been named on Teesside today.  Operated by ship-owner, Anthony Veder, the new ships will carry Liquefied Ethylene Gas (LEG) from SABIC’s Wilton facility on Teesside to manufacturing plants in North-West Europe and Scandinavia.  The chemicals will be used to make a range of everyday items such as food packaging, PVC, detergents and adhesives. ‫ 

The state-of-the art ships will drastically cut both sulphur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions compared to the vessels they are replacing.  Switching to alternative fuels for ships, such as LNG, instead of traditional fuel oils is one of the solutions identified by Anthony Veder to help SABIC further improve its environmental performance. 

“As a responsible global company, SABIC is committed to providing high-quality products to its customers while doing all it reasonably can in order to reduce the environmental impact of its operations,” said SABIC’s European Supply Chain Director of Chemicals, Wouter Vermijs, while attending the naming ceremony.  “We are proud to be the first chemical company in the world to be transporting our products on carriers running on LNG and to have an innovative partner in Anthony Veder.”

The new ships, with a cargo capacity of 4,768 m³, will reportedly reduce NOx emissions by over 85%, with SOx and soot particles reduced by nearly 100% and CO2 by 20%.  The cost of the vessels has been partly funded from the European Union's TEN-T programme, which seeks to ensure Europe has a well-run transport infrastructure in order to maintain the continent’s competitiveness and wealth.

“We are delighted to welcome the Coral Star and Coral Sticho into Teesport.  The arrival of these industry leading LNG fuelled vessels on Teesside demonstrates a significant commitment by SABIC to the industry and ultimately the River Tees,” said Jerry Hopkinson, Managing Director at ports operator, PD Ports.

“We have a world leading chemical site in this region, which plays a vital role in the supply and distribution chain of one of Europe’s largest process clusters and today showcases SABIC’s commitment to sustaining these relationships long term,” Hopkinson continued.