Greek gas utility DEPA is preparing to enter the LNG bunkering market with the construction of a 3,000 cubic-meter carrier to be based at Piraeus port, according to energypress sources.

This LNG carrier is intended to offer bunkering services at Piraeus port, the country’s biggest, and also transport LNG to other ports.

DEPA has signed an agreement with the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), a European Commission executive agency, for the Blue HUBS program, an extension of Poseidon Med II, offering EU financing for LNG bunkering vessels, the sources informed.

DEPA also plans to rely on company capital and bank financing for the LNG carrier’s development.

The DEPA vessel, whose delivery is anticipated around 2021 or 2022, will be the first of its kind in the Greek and wider eastern Mediterranean regions.

The gas utility is essentially moving to capitalize on market opportunities emerging as a result of stricter EU environmental regulations for cleaner shipping fuels to come into effect as of 2020.