LNG

French LNG storage tanks technology company GTT plans to invest in a Finnish maritime software firm specialising in the digitalisation of scheduling and chartering processes for bulk shipping.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French maritime LNG storage technology company, has named Jean-Baptiste Choimet to the position of Chief Executive of GTT as part of a new strategy to adopt more green policy governance.

GTT said that Choimet was scheduled to take up his post on June 12, 2024.

Aged 42, Choimet is a graduate of one of France’s grande école, the Ecole Polytechnique, and is a graduate in Advanced Chemical Engineering Practice from Cambridge University in England.

Jean-Baptiste Choimet joined the GTT group in 2020 and became Managing Director of Elogen, a subsidiary of the Group specializing in design and manufacturing of electrolysers to produce green hydrogen.

Background

Hydrogen energy has gathered substantial support from industry, government and the public to position it as a pivotal future fuel source.

However, its commercial realisation faces significant hurdles, including slow infrastructure growth and the high cost of producing clean hydrogen solely from renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

In his earlier career, Choimet also contributed to the development of the Dunkirk LNG terminal project by French utilty EDF before joining French banking group Société Générale to create the LNG trading desk.

In 2012, he joined French LNG engineering company Technip, where he held commercial functions and worked on major LNG projects in Australia and Russia.

He joined the Bouygues Construction group in 2019 where he oversaw operations for the deployment of telecoms networks.

GTT said that the decision to appoint Choimet to replace Philippe Berterottière, the currently CEO, was taken “unanimously by the Board of GTT and “as the culmination of a rigorous selection process” led by the Appointments and Remuneration Committee, chaired by Catherine Ronge.

“Furthermore, so that GTT can continue to benefit from the experience and commitment of Philippe Berterottière to the success of the group, the Board of will renew the latter in his role as Chairman of the Board for the remaining period of his term of office as director,” GTT explained.

Paris-based GTT stated that these decisions were part of the separation of the functions of Chairman and CEO decided by the GTT Board of Directors on February 17, 2022.

“The new governance of the GTT group will take effect on June 12, 2024,” GTT said.

Catherine Ronge, head of the nominations and committee, said that as part of a demanding process initiated several months ago, the committee had reviewed several high-quality applications.

“The managerial and professional skills, particularly in the key areas of LNG and hydrogen, the personal qualities and achievements of Jean-Baptiste Choimet in the General Management of Elogen were assessed by the Board as particularly in line with GTT's requirements and the group's development strategy,” Ronge declared.

“Jean-Baptiste Choimet's sustained involvement with the Group and its teams will constitute an essential asset to ensure a seamless transition, within the framework of the new governance of the GTT group,” she added.

Strategy

Outgoing CEO Berterottière said he was proud of the ambitious development strategy pursued by the GTT group, both in its core business and in its new markets.

“Faithful to its purpose, GTT has been able to initiate an in-depth transformation to support its clients in facing their future challenges and contribute to building, with them, a sustainable world,” stated Berterottière.

“I am delighted with the appointment of Jean-Baptiste Choimet to accelerate GTT’s progress in this direction,” he added.

“Together, we share the same passion for technology and innovation, as well as a strong attachment to the GTT group, which I will be proud to continue to serve, alongside him, in my role as President,” added Berterottière.

Future CEO Choimet thanked the board for the trust in him it had demonstrated.

“I look forward to working with all the teams of the GTT group and to being supported in this great mission by Philippe Berterottière, with whom I have worked in trust for more than three years,” declared Choimet.

“I approach this new role with enthusiasm at the head of a group which is today a leading global technological player in the maritime and energy world,” he stated.

“I will be keen to mobilize the teams to continue and accelerate the evolution of the GTT group towards the technologies the world will need in the coming decades,” the incoming CEO added.

European Union LNG market report by EU agency for energy regulators says LNG imports may be near peak

The latest European LNG Market Monitoring Report (MMR) has analysed global and European Union market developments and has recommended further actions to improve transparency, competition and flexibility at European LNG terminals.

Ascenz Marorka, the smart-shipping arm of French LNG maritime storage technology company GTT, has been granted an approval for cybersecurity for its digital solutions by France’s classification society Bureau Veritas.

“The technological evolution in the maritime sector has brought to the forefront significant risks associated with cyber-attacks, affecting the safety of individuals, the marine environment or everyone’s personal data,” said Ascenz Marorka.

“Faced with this reality, maritime companies need to adopt proactive protection measures and robust defence strategies to ensure the continuity and the safety of their operations,” stated the firm.

Resilience

GTT group said that the approval for cyber-security granted by Bureau Veritas highlighted the ability of the Ascenz Marorka solutions to meet the cyber-security challenges of the maritime sector with “resilience and reliability” after testing.

GTT said the smart-shipping unit benefited from the robust protection for its computer systems, encrypting the data used and was able to isolate the networks for the approved functionalities.

The Paris-based firm said that the approval demonstrated Ascenz Marorka’s commitment to helping build a sustainable future, while ensuring maximum cyber protection for its customers.

“The safety of our customers’ data is at the heart of our strategy. We are very proud of this approval, which reflects our commitment to protecting our customers’ operations,” said Anouar Kiassi, Managing Director of Ascenz Marorka.

“Having a trusted third party like Bureau Veritas certify our solution is the best proof we can offer our customers to show them how seriously we monitor and mitigate evolving cyber-risks,” declared Kiassi.

Bureau Veritas

Paul Delouche, the Advanced Services Director of Bureau Veritas, said that as a class society, Bureau Veritas was very pleased to find that key players in the maritime industry, such as Ascenz Marorka, were seeking certification to demonstrate their level of cybersecurity maturity.

The certification covers the Ascenz Marorka applications’ related requirements included in “NR467 Bureau Veritas Rules for the Classification of Steel Ships”, “NR659 Bureau Veritas Rules on Cyber Security or the Classification of marine units” and “IACS UR E27 Rev.1 (Sep 2023) Cyber resilience of on-board systems and equipment”.

Ascenz Marorka noted that with IACS UR E27 entering into force on July 1, 2024, the smart-shipping unit has successfully anticipated what many vendors would need to accomplish in the coming months.

“This certification rewards the exemplary commitment of Ascenz Marorka teams in strengthening their digital solutions and demonstrates Bureau Veritas’ readiness to promote cybersecurity as a catalyst for digitalization,” the company concluded.

South Korea has held a ceremony for the formal hand-over of a new liquefied natural gas bunkering vessel equipped with Korean-designed and constructed cargo storage systems.

The “Blue Whale” ship was constructed at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in the southern port city of Ulsan, where the ceremony took place.

“The vessel cost 55.3 billion won ($41.7 million) and is the first vessel equipped with the Korean type KC-2 cargo storage design,” said a statement from the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The country developed its initial LNG cargo storage technologies from 2004 to 2014, called KC-1, and several vessels adopted that system, though it never made a commercial breakthrough.

“Based on that, it launched a project in 2017 to upgrade the KC-1 system to come up with the advanced KC-2 tank design,” added the statement.

“The ‘Blue Whale’ will be able to provide 7,500 cubic metres of LNG fuel directly to vessels, compared with an average of 30 cubic metres of LNG carried by a bunkering truck,” it stated.

Long-term project

The Ministry described the construction of the “Blue Whale” as an achievement by the shipbuilding industry of 20 years of work on LNG storage issues.

Two different designs were initially developed for LNG containment tanks for vessels, the Moss design and the membrane-type tank system using thin, flexible membranes supported only by the insulated hull structure.

Other ship and tank designs also emerged, including the KC-1 design from Korea Gas Corp. and backed by three Korean shipyards but was never taken up outside Korea. The system has now been upgraded and improved and is the KC-2 system used in the “Blue Whale”.

The Moss design was first commercial storage design taken up in 1971 and is well known by its independent spherical tanks that often have the top half exposed on LNG carriers.

However, the most common membrane-tank systems have been designed by Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French technology company which charges royalties to shipyards to use its extremely successful tanks on new vessels.

Options

LNG has been a fuel option for a long time, though up until a few years ago it was confined to LNG carriers utilising the boil of gas from their cargo and smaller vessels like ferries and offshore support vessels.

LNG fuel is now part of the shipbuilding sector as part of the preferred dual-fuel options for shipowners.

There are currently 32 LNG bunkering vessels operating worldwide with most having capacity between 7,200 cubic metres and 9,200 cubic metres and with 16 other fuelling ships on the shipyard order books.

LNG bunkering is also available for vessels at almost 90 terminals and ports worldwide using methods such as quayside truck re-fuelling, ship-to-ship transfers and barge-based transfers.

Pavilion Energy of Singapore and Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines held a ship-naming ceremony at Sembcorp Marine’s Tuas Boulevard shipyard for the 12,000 cubic metres capacity bunkering vessel “Brassavola”, the largest of its kind to be built in the Asian city state.

China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. (DSIC) said the world’s first LNG-powered very large crude carrier, the “Yuan Rui Yang”, would soon be ready to hand over to Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation after completing its gas trials following successful sea trials and LNG bunkering during the fourth quarter.

French maritime storage technology firm GTT has received an order from its partner, the South Korean shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), for the fuel tank designs for five LNG-fuelled container vessels.

The leading Chinese LNG importer, China National Offshore Oil Corp., has expanded the planned storage capacity from six tanks to 10 tanks for the Yancheng-Binhai Port import terminal now under construction in the eastern province of Jiangsu.

CNOOC said that the cost of the first six tanks would be around 6.1 billion yuan ($953 million) and the Binhai venture would have two gas-fired power plants adjacent.

Phase one will have an annual receiving capacity of 3 million tonnes per annum and will be completed by 2022, including the first four 220,000 cubic metres full containment LNG tanks.

The Binhai facility includes one jetty to accommodate the largest carriers such as the Qatari Q-Max vessels at 266,000 cubic metres capacity.

Four more 220,000 cubic metres LNG tanks will then be built followed by the final two. The Binhai terminal will transfer natural gas to Jiangsu to increase gas availability for refining, industry and gas-fired power.

The full project is scheduled to come on line by the end of 2023 with the 10 tanks operating, including six ultra-large tanks, each with a total volume of 270,000 cubic metres.

“The Binhai LNG terminal in Jiangsu will have an annual LNG regasification capacity of 6 million tonnes a year, though will also have the largest LNG storage base in China with the 10 tanks,” explained Beijing-based CNOOC.

“The terminal’s construction will play a key role in the country’s natural gas supply, storage and gas marketing system,” stated CNOOC.

The company added that the Binhai LNG terminal project would also be an important asset in the industrial upgrade of the Yangtze River Economic Zone.

CNOOC has the largest regasification capacity of the Chinese majors with a presence in eight of the existing 22 import terminals, even after state-backed PipeChina bought and opened up several CNOOC-owned terminals to third-party access.

CNOOC also reportedly purchased almost a dozen additional LNG cargoes for delivery between July 2021 and March 2022 as demand in southern China is expected to remain strong as well as in the north and eastern industrial belt.

A second large LNG import terminal with mega-storage is also under development, the Tianjin Port Nangang project in northeast China.

First of all two tanks are being built followed by the second and third phases which will include building six additional storage tanks, each of 220,000 cubic metres capacity.

Gaztransport and Technigaz, the French technology and engineering company for LNG storage, has designing the tanks for the expanding Chinese import network and its accompanying system of gas-fired power plants and gas grid transmission lines.


The Tianjin Nangang terminal is being developed by the Beijing Gas Group and will be the third serving the northeast Chinese port supplying the gas needs of Beijing.

The existing facilities currently include the Tianjin North onshore terminal operated by China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) and a separate floating terminal provided at peak times by Höegh LNG Holdings in the form of a floating storage and regasification unit on long-term charter to CNOOC.

March 10 (LNGJ) - Qatar Petroleum, along with several leading international LNG players, have signed a multi-party agreement with LNT Marine, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding of China to collaborate on the development of new medium and large LNG carrier designs. The Qataris said the agreement paved the way for the establishment of a Joint Industry Project (JIP) targeting the development of new LNG carrier designs using the LNT A-BOX LNG cargo containment system.

   Other signatories to the agreement include Qatargas and affiliates of ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Total. The LNT A-BOX LNG cargo system is a new design recently deployed on the 45,000 cubic metres capacity ABS-classed vessel “Saga Dawn”, which entered commercial service in 2020. “We are pleased to collaborate with LNT Marine, ABS, and SWS to introduce new designs utilizing innovative technologies,” said Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, President and Chief Executive of Qatar Petroleum.

The Zvezda Shipyard in the Russian Far East is moving ahead into a new era with the first ever construction programme for liquefied natural gas carriers, ordered for the Arctic LNG II export project in northern Siberia.