Wilhelmshaven reaches the first liquid gas tanker Athos LNG - energy transition in the focus!

Wilhelmshaven reaches the first liquid gas tanker Athos LNG - energy transition in the focus!

The Wilhelmshaven harbor is buzzing again! Liquid gas anchors have recently been running almost every day and bring urgently needed natural gas into German energy supply. A real milestone: The LNG tanker “Athos LNG” celebrated its premiere in Wilhelmshaven on July 16, 2025. He delivered his load from the American charging port Freeport in Texas to the new Gasterminal "WHV 01 Hoegh Esperanza". These are the first of several state-of-the-art LNG tankers, which were ordered with capacities of up to 174,000 cubic meters in South Korea, reports nwzonline.de .

With its 290 -meter -long fuselage, the "Athos LNG" belongs to the Greek "Cardiff LNG Omicron Owning Ltd." and is from the "TMS Cardiff Gas Ltd." operated. The arrival of this modern LNG tanker underlines the central role of Wilhelmshaven in Germany's energy transition, which complements oil and coal handling systems with a new focus on gas imports, especially since the invasion of Russia in Ukraine in 2022.

important turntable for energy supply

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

With the FSRU "Hoegh Esperanza"-a floating import terminal for storing and re-evaporation from LNG-Germany has put its first FSRU-based import terminal into operation. This measure represents a reaction to the changed geopolitical situation and is intended to help replace pipelae -bound Russian gas. Uniper, the operator of the terminal, has already sketched other plans, including a land-based ammonia import terminal and a 200 MW electrolysis to produce green hydrogen.

The future of the LNG import infrastructure

The developments in Wilhelmshaven are part of a wider strategy to strengthen LNG import infrastructure in Germany. The aim is to put six FSRU-based terminals into operation by the end of 2023. The planned projects include the terminals in Lubmin and Brunsbüttel, both of which also want to invest strongly in the expansion of LNG infrastructures. In Lubmin, the regas plans to develop another FSRU to secure the energy supply of the region, while in Brunsbüttel the first test runs have already been successfully carried out, as in Gasprocessingnews.com can be read.

How to proceed? The cards in the energy supply are re -mixed and the chances for northwest Germany are good. In view of the high gas demand for the coming winter months and the strategic location advantages, the Wilhelmshaven port will certainly play a key role. It all remains to be seen how quickly the plans for the next projects will be implemented.