LNG

Jan 31 (LNGJ) - Wärtsilä, the Finnish ship-propulsion and gas systems company, said profits before taxes declined by 5 percent in the fourth quarter to 215 million euros ($268M) compared with 226M euros in the same three months of 2016. On an annual basis, pre-tax profits were up 6 percent at 506M euros versus 479M euros the previous year. Fourth-quarter order intake rose 14 percent to 1.51 billion euros and on a yearly basis orders were up 15 percent at 5.64Bln euros. “The favourable order trends seen throughout the year continued in the fourth quarter, providing us with a solid basis from which we can develop our business,” said President and Chief Executive Jaakko Eskola. Wärtsilä noted that in December 2017 it signed a cooperation agreement with French LNG storage technology company GTT to explore potential business opportunities in the marine sector in relation to LNG storage, fuel-gas supply systems and associated services.

Jan 30 (LNGJ) - Arctia, the shipping company in Finland with a fleet of eight ice-breakers, said the world’s first LNG-powered ice-breaker “Polaris” had entered 2018 operations. The “Polaris” runs on both marine diesel and LNG. “The crew is very excited to begin ice-breaking duty,” said Pasi Jarvelin, the master of “Polaris”. Arctia said the vessel would be fueled with 700 cubic metres of LNG at the Finnish import terminal at the port of Pori before joining two other ice-breakers assisting shipping traffic in the Bothnian Bay area of the northern Baltic Sea.