First liquid gas tanker Athos LNG” reaches Wilhelmshaven – focus on energy transition!

First liquid gas tanker Athos LNG” reaches Wilhelmshaven – focus on energy transition!

The Wilhelmshaven harbor is humming again! Liquefied gas tankers have recently been arriving almost daily, bringing urgently needed natural gas into the German energy supply. A real milestone: The LNG tanker “Athos LNG” celebrated its premiere in Wilhelmshaven on July 16, 2025. He delivered his cargo from the American loading port of Freeport in Texas to the new gas terminal “WHV 01 Hoegh Esperanza”. This is the first of several state-of-the-art LNG tankers with capacities of up to 174,000 cubic meters that have been ordered from South Korea, it is reported nwzonline.de.

With its 290 meter long hull, the “Athos LNG” is part of the Greek “Cardiff LNG Omicron Owning Ltd.” and is operated by “TMS Cardiff Gas Ltd.” operated. The arrival of this modern LNG tanker highlights Wilhelmshaven's central role in Germany's energy transition, complementing oil and coal handling facilities with a new focus on gas imports, especially since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Important hub for energy supply

Wilhelmshaven has developed over decades into an important hub for Germany's energy supply. Liquefied natural gas ships of all sizes can be handled here, regardless of the tides and under the highest international safety standards. This means that up to 4.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas are available every year, which are piped via an approximately 30 kilometer long pipeline into the German gas pipeline network near Etzel lngprime.com reported.

With the FSRU “Hoegh Esperanza” – a floating import terminal for the storage and regasification of LNG – Germany has put its first FSRU-based import terminal into operation. This measure represents a response to the changed geopolitical situation and is intended to help replace pipeline-bound Russian gas. Uniper, the terminal's operator, has already outlined further plans, including a land-based ammonia import terminal and a 200 MW electrolyser to produce green hydrogen.

The future of LNG import infrastructure

The developments in Wilhelmshaven are part of a broader strategy to strengthen the LNG import infrastructure in Germany. The aim is to have six FSRU-based terminals operational by the end of 2023. The planned projects include the terminals in Lubmin and Brunsbüttel, both of which also want to invest heavily in the expansion of LNG infrastructure. In Lubmin, ReGas plans to develop another FSRU, which will secure the region's energy supply, while the first test runs have already been successfully carried out in Brunsbüttel, as in gasprocessingnews.com can be read.

What happens next? The cards in energy supply are being reshuffled, and the chances for northwest Germany are good. Considering the high gas demand for the coming winter months and the strategic location advantages, the Wilhelmshaven port will certainly play a key role. All that remains to be seen is how quickly the plans for the next projects will be implemented.