* Southern state wants to promote LNG as fuel in fishing
* Launches project to convert diesel-fuelled boat todual-fuelled
* Unusual for fishing boats to run on LNG(Adds analyst comment)
By Jessica Jaganathan
SINGAPORE, Aug 14 (Reuters) - India is set to test usingliquefied natural gas (LNG) to power fishing boats ahead ofstricter international rules on marine fuel emissions next year,in a move that could help an under-used LNG terminal in thesouth of the country.
The South Asian country's Kerala Development and InnovationStrategic Council (K-DISC), which is a think-tank and advisorybody set up by the government of the southern state of Kerala,issued an expression of interest (EOI) this week for a pilotproject to use LNG to fuel a fishing boat.
It is looking to retrofit an existing marine diesel enginesystem in a fishing boat currently in the city of Kochi toenable it to operate on both LNG and diesel in what is known asa dual fuel system.
Fishing boats are typically fuelled by diesel, but a newregulation by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) thatlimits the sulphur content of fuel used in ships by 2020 couldpush governments to explore the use of cleaner fuels.
LNG is not widely used in the fishing industry due tolimited bunkering infrastructure and high costs.
But with the Kochi LNG terminal in southern India beingunder-utilised due to lack of infrastructure connecting theterminal to the main gas demand areas within the region, thegovernment could be exploring ways to increase the terminal'sutilisation, Poorna Rajendran, a consultant at FGE said.
"Petronet LNG Ltd, the operator of Kochi LNG terminal, hasin the past leased out storage capacity for reloading toincrease the terminal's utilization," he said.
"Supporting the use of LNG as a marine fuel would alsoincrease the terminal's utilization."
The project will also involve the installation of an LNGfuel storage tank and other associated equipment and pipelinesby modifying the boat hull, according to the EOI.
K-DISC has asked for the work to be done in 18 weeks and isrequesting proposals by Sept. 7, with commercial bids to besubmitted by late October.
"It is still early days for LNG bunkering in Kerala and inIndia as it would require substantial investments from shipowners," FGE's Rajendran added.(Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by Joseph Radford andMark Potter)