LNG

Sept 3 (LNGJ) - Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) of Japan has signed an accord with the Russian state leasing company (GTLK) for the possible acquisition of a 49 percent stake in two LNG floating storage units (FSUs) currently being built and with 100 percent ownership held by GTLK. The FSUs will have the world’s largest storage capacity of about 360,000 cubic metres and will be deployed by Russian natural gas company Novatek at Kamchatka and Murmansk for LNG cargo trans-shipments from the existing Yamal plant and Arctic II facility now under construction.

   The two FSUs are being built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering of South Korea. “By transporting LNG via the Northern Sea Route and by trans-shipping at Kamchatka and Murmansk, it is expected to reduce voyage costs and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, securing LNG at a location close to a point of consumption is believed to increase security and reliability of energy supply,” explained MOL.

Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, the Japanese maritime classification society, has issued its latest survey guidelines for facilities and equipment on liquefied natural gas bunkering vessels supplying fuel to LNG-powered ships at sea.