May 8, 2017. The Port of Santander, Spain, has supplied liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the first time in its history, specifically to the cement vessel MV Ireland, registered by Modesto Piñeiro CyA SL, which arrived last May 2 at the Cantabrian capital.

   The ship, with a length of 109.66 meters, a sleeve of 14.99 meters and a draft of 9.85 meters, loaded a consignment of 7.006 tons of cement at the Cementos Alfa facilities in the Port of Santander to the United Kingdom.

   This vessel, propelled by LNG, was the first to receive this type of fuel in the Port of Santander, a supply that has been made by the company Molgas Energía. The supply consisted of a total quantity of 37 tons, carried out from 2 cisterns, by an operation that lasted about 4 hours.

   The fuel supply has been planned, coordinated and supervised by Molgas Energía in collaboration with the Port of Santander, the assigned consignee and the crew of the vessel, and has concluded without any incident, with a satisfactory result for all parties involved.

   MV Ireland, under the Norwegian flag of shipowner KGJ Cement, was launched on March 19, 2016 at the Ferus Smit Shipyard in Westerbroek, The Netherlands. Its characteristics include a capacity of the natural gas tank of 48 tons, autonomy of 1.200 nautical miles and a consumption of 10 tons/day.

   In addition, it is fully equipped for the transportation and handling of bulk cement, although it can also transport other products such as fly ash, slag dust and similar products. Dust emissions to the environment are eliminated by dust collectors installed on board.