The inauguration ceremony, complete with the traditional breaking of a bottle on the bow, was certainly conventional. However, the ship being launched aims to be one of the most innovative in the European maritime sector. At the end of January, at Genoa’s Levante Waterfront, designed by Renzo Piano, the Green Pearl was unveiled: a bunkering unit or, in simpler terms, a gas carrier for the transport and refuelling of liquid natural gas (LNG) and bio-LNG.
A new ship-to-truck technology
The Green Pearl has a distinctive feature: according to its builders, it is the first vessel in Europe capable of combining ship-to-ship operations (refuelling other vessels) with ship-to-truck operations (loading LNG directly into tanker trucks). The result is a significant simplification of small-scale LNG distribution, in which the gas remains in liquid form and is not regasified before distribution.
Ship-to-truck capability is made possible by the innovative, proprietary LNG4Speed technology, patented by the Italian company Gas & Heat S.p.A. This solution, “by allowing LNG to be unloaded directly from a gas carrier to land-based tanker trucks, represents a significant shortening of the supply chain,” Simone Demarchi, CEO of Axpo Italia, tells Renewable Matter.
Axpo is among the key players in this initiative, which involves several partners. The Group, Switzerland’s largest producer of renewable energy and active in Italy since 2000, commissioned the ship in the summer of 2023, chartering it under an initial ten-year contract.
The Green Pearl was built by the Genoese shipyard San Giorgio del Porto S.p.A. on behalf of the shipping company G&H Shipping S.r.l., a joint venture between Gas & Heat S.p.A. and San Giorgio del Porto S.p.A., later joined by Sofipa S.p.A.
This partnership resulted in a vessel approximately 117 metres long and 18 metres wide, with a capacity of 7,500 cubic metres of LNG. For comparison, “a modern ferry needs 600 cubic metres to cover the route from Genoa to Palermo,” said Matteo Parioli, president of the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, during the launch event.
The Mediterranean: a growing market for LNG
The Green Pearl will operate primarily in the western Mediterranean and along the Italian coastline. Axpo’s vision for the new vessel is to incorporate it into a strategic project for developing the small-scale maritime LNG and bio-LNG market. “In Italy, Axpo is currently the only operator carrying out bunkering operations on a weekly basis,” Demarchi explains, observing that in the Mediterranean, the sector is undergoing “a phase of rapid growth to meet supply needs and the necessity of finding alternatives to ensure the system’s energy security.” According to the SSLNG Watch 2025 report, prepared by MBS Consulting for Assocostieri, “there are more than 600 LNG-powered ships in the world”, and “a similar number have been ordered, 40 of which are destined for the Mediterranean.”
FuelEU Maritime, the EU regulation on clean fuels for shipping, includes LNG among the more sustainable alternatives to traditional fuel. However, not everyone agrees with this assessment. According to a new study by the organisation Transport & Environment (T&E), emissions occurring prior to consumption onboard ships make LNG more polluting than what is estimated under the regulation.
Despite the debate over its environmental impact, the positive trend in the liquefied gas sector is leading Axpo to consider expanding into major Mediterranean ports. “In addition to recent LNG deliveries to the ports of Malaga and Algeciras, there are those in Genoa and other Italian ports that will be reached precisely by the Green Pearl project,” Demarchi continues. “At the European level, Axpo Group’s bunkering operations can already count on a planned fleet of six ships.” While awaiting zero-emissions solutions, the race for LNG to reduce the impact of maritime transport is already underway.
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Cover: the Green Pearl, photo by Axpo