Gate Terminal has commissioned a fourth LNG storage tank at its Maasvlakte facility, adding 180,000 cubic metres of capacity and lifting the Gasunie-Vopak joint venture's annual throughput to 20 billion cubic metres — equivalent to two-thirds of Dutch gas demand.

The new tank widens the terminal's ability to receive LNG from a broader set of global suppliers and feed Dutch and neighbouring-country gas transmission networks through regasification.

What does a fourth tank change for shippers?

The new storage shifts the operational bottleneck downstream of the jetty. Gate receives LNG by ship, holds it in liquid form, and processes it for delivery to users in the Netherlands and surrounding countries. A larger storage cushion smooths the supply curve, allowing the terminal to absorb bigger cargo parcels from the largest LNG carriers and to manage peak winter send-out without rationing grid capacity.

That flexibility carries commercial value for gas shippers and traders working in the Dutch wholesale market, where Gate Terminal acts as one of the principal entry points for imported LNG.

Who runs the operation?

Gate Terminal is a joint venture between Gasunie and Vopak. The two partners have worked in tandem at Maasvlakte since the original facility came online. Gasunie handles grid-side integration; Vopak contributes tank and jetty engineering expertise.

The commercial mix splits across three streams:

• Long-term capacity bookings from utility and industrial offtakers
• Spot regasified LNG sales into the Dutch wholesale market
• Marine fuel volumes through the LNG bunkering infrastructure now under construction

When does LNG bunkering scale?

The capacity lift aligns with two vessel-side projects at the site.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority is constructing a fourth jetty for the terminal, with small-scale ship loading and bunkering operations due to begin by the end of 2028. Gate is separately assessing a fifth jetty, subject to sufficient market interest being confirmed.

The bunkering dimension is the most commercially relevant for shipowners, carriers and bunker traders. Rotterdam has positioned itself as a leading European LNG bunkering hub, competing for the growing pool of LNG-fuelled container, tanker and cruise newbuilds. The extra 180,000 m³ underwrites higher single-call bunker volumes and lowers supply risk at peak demand — a constraint that has periodically pushed Rotterdam LNG bunker prices above Singapore on tight market days.

What it means for carriers and forwarders

For LNG carriers trading into Rotterdam, the storage cushion removes one of the tighter constraints on parcel size at the terminal, supporting higher single-cargo lifts from loading ports in the US Gulf and Middle East. For bunker traders, the larger working volume underpins price stability through cyclical demand from cruise and container operators with multi-port rotations in northwest Europe. For gas shippers and forwarders with back-to-back cargo programmes, the extra storage narrows the timing window between vessel arrival and grid injection, reducing demurrage exposure.

What comes next?

Construction of the fourth jetty will run through 2027 and 2028, with the Port of Rotterdam Authority and Gate Terminal confirming commissioning milestones in stages. A decision on the fifth jetty will follow once Gate secures firm shipowner interest in long-term LNG bunkering offtake at Maasvlakte.

Gate's expansion adds a regasified tonnage pipeline into the Dutch gas network that few European facilities match. Whether the additional storage translates into more competitive LNG bunker pricing for Rotterdam operators will hinge on how quickly the fourth jetty reaches commercial operation and on the volume commitments Gate secures from gas-fuelled tonnage operators through 2028 and 2029.