LNG

Seatrium of Singapore, the shipyard engineering company, with continued project successes in oil and LNG with many projects to work on through 2025 has signed an accord with Shell Global Solutions to explore and strengthen collaboration opportunities in Floating Production Systems through leveraging their engineering capabilities and technologies.

Seatrium, formerly called Sembcorp Marine Ltd and renamed as Seatrium following its merger with Keppel Offshore & Marine, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ethe Shell unit focusing on driving project standardisation and replication while seeking to promote best practices in the design of floating systems.

The Singaporean company noted that Seatrium and Shell had worked together on various projects over the years, including the recently-announced Sparta floating production unit (FPU), which is conceived as a replicable project to leverage the Group’s topsides single-lift integration methodology, following the
fabrication of Vito and Whale FPU newbuilds in 2021 and 2023 respectively.

Collaboration

“We are pleased to deepen our collaboration with Shell, leveraging both parties’ competencies and technologies in past Floating Production Systems projects,” explained William Gu, Executive Vice President of Seatrium Oil & Gas (International).

“We look forward to continuing working with Shell to mutually learn and develop best-in-class project management practices to achieve operational efficiency in future floater projects, benefitting both parties,” Gu stated.

Seatrium also said in April 2024 that the its shipyard engineering activities would include more LNG project successes.

The company as secured a series of major contracts with an aggregate value of S$350 million (US$259M), to be completed by the end 2025, reinforcing its reputation as a market leader in vessel repairs, upgrades and conversions.

Seatrium, formerly called Sembcorp Marine Ltd and renamed as Seatrium following its merger with Keppel Offshore & Marine, is moving forward in the sector after big LNG delivery highlights in 2023.

These included the successful delivery in November 2023 of the Greek floating storage and regasification unit, the “FSRU Alexandroupolis”, now deployed offshore northeast Greece as part of a Balkans LNG supply hub. 

Conversions

The backlog of FSRU conversions involves three LNG Carriers (LNGC) being converted to FSRUs for Turkish company Karpowership, with an option for a fourth project.

Seatrium also in November last year handed over the LNG production unit for the BP-led FLNG project offshore Senegal and Mauritania in West Africa and also involving Dallas-based US company Kosmos Energy.

The group’s businesses include oil & gas newbuilds and conversions, offshore renewables, repairs & upgrades, and new energies, to advance the global energy transition from its 60 years of experience in the offshore industry.

Seatrium operates shipyards and engineering and technology centres in 12 countries including Brazil, China, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and the UK and the US as well as Singapore.

Seatrium Group of Singapore, formerly called Sembcorp Marine Ltd and renamed as Seatrium following its merger with Keppel Offshore & Marine, has successfully delivered the converted floating LNG production vessel for the BP-led FLNG project offshore Mauritania and Senegal.

Pavilion Energy, the Singapore natural gas and LNG company, has named Alan Heng as Group Chief Executive effective from April 2022 as the company continues to support Asian expansion in trading and bunkering activities.

The American Bureau of Shipping, the US classification society, said the first liquefied natural gas-powered Newcastlemax bulk carrier in an order of 13 ABS-classed vessels for Eastern Pacific Shipping has been fuelled with LNG in a bunkering operation at Singapore, and was now heading for Australia to load iron ore for Asia.

Global commodities firm Trafigura and French liquefied natural gas storage technology company Gaztranzport and Technigaz (GTT) have joined forces with Japanese shipping lines to help take the bunkering business into the modern era in the Port of Singapore, the growing Asian LNG hub.

Gazprom Neft, the Russian oil and gas company and refiner, said it was looking for more opportunities in the LNG maritime fuel market as it awaits the delivery of the first Russian LNG bunkering vessel currently under construction in Singapore.

Avenir LNG, the Norwegian small-scale LNG business, said the carrier “Avenir Accolade” would deliver the commissioning cargo to the latest Italian regasification terminal on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia after making its way from Asia.

Avenir, a joint venture between London-based Stolt-Nielsen and partners Höegh LNG and Golar LNG Ltd., took delivery of the 7,500 cubic metres capacity dual-purpose LBV “Avenir Accolade” in March 2021 from the Keppel Offshore and Marine shipyard in the Chinese port of Nantong.

The “Avenir Accolade” has an overall length of 124 metres and her beam is 18 metres.

Avenir said a ship-to-ship bunkering of the “Avenir Accolade” was carried out on April 26 by its sister ship, the “Avenir Advantage”, off Pengerang in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia.

The Maltese-flagged “Avenir Accolade” is scheduled to transit the Suez Canal on May 15 into the East Mediterranean, according to shipping data.

“We’re thrilled to see the ‘Avenir Advantage’ alongside the ‘Avenir Accolade’, the first time they are back together since leaving the shipyard in Nantong,” said Peter Mackey, Chief Executive of Avenir LNG Ltd.

Schedule

“We look forward to welcoming the ‘Avenir Accolade’ to our HIGAS terminal in Sardinia in a few weeks’ time with the commissioning cargo onboard,” added Mackey.

“We continue to make significant strides in executing our strategy for Avenir LNG,” the CEO explained.

“The Avenir team and the crews onboard our vessels deserve a huge amount of praise for all they have accomplished during these enormously challenging times,” he stated.

Stolt-Nielsen started up the small-scale LNG sector firm Avenir in 2015 and its two main investors, Golar and Höegh, each have 22.5 percent of Avenir.

In addition to its growing small-scale fleet Avenir has an 80 percent stake in the small-scale Higas terminal being commissioned in May.

The terminal is located at the Port of Oristano and includes a jetty capable of receiving LNG vessels up to 20,000 cubic metres, an unloading arm, six horizontal cryogenic holding tanks of 1,500 cubic metres capacity each, two LNG truck-loading bays and a natural gas power generation system.

The Sardinian terminal will be capable of loading around 8,000 LNG trucks each year for subsequent distribution to smaller satellite stations across the island in a classic version of a targeted small-scale LNG project.

Sardinia currently lacks a system of access to natural gas and only a small number of industrial customers receive LNG by truck which is brought to the island by ferry.

The Norwegian small-scale LNG business of Stolt-Nielsen and partners Höegh LNG and Golar LNG has taken delivery of another gas supply and bunkering vessel (LBV) from the Keppel Offshore and Marine shipyard in the Chinese port of Nantong.

The Nordic joint venture called Avenir LNG has named its second 7,500 cubic metres capacity dual-purpose LBV, the “Avenir Accolade”, and it is now available.

The company said the “Avenir Accolade” would enter a three-year bareboat charter to LNG Power Limited, a subsidiary of Hygo Energy Transition to support Hygo’s developments in northeast Brazil.

This is the Avenir joint venture’s first entry into the Latin American LNG market.

Stolt-Nielsen, whose headquarters are in London, started up the small-scale LNG sector firm Avenir in 2015 and its two main investors, Golar and Höegh, each have 22.5 percent of Avenir.

The company said that the “Avenir Accolade” would soon be delivering LNG to Hygo’s customers along the Brazilian coastline.

“Fitted with specialised LNG handling equipment, she will be capable of unloading LNG directly into trucks for onward distribution across Brazil,” said Avenir.

The Hygo company was formerly known as Golar Power and is being acquired by New York-Based New Fortress Energy.

In addition to the growing small-scale LNG fleet, Avenir has an 80 percent stake in a small-scale LNG import project on the Italian island of Sardinia and set to start up soon.

Peter Mackey, Chief Executive of Avenir, said the company strategy was progressing on schedule.

“This is a transformational year for Avenir LNG as we commission our onshore LNG terminal in Sardinia in the coming weeks and continue to expand our fleet with the addition of four more newbuild vessels by year-end,” Mackey explained.

Avenir’s largest bunkering vessel, the “Avenir Allegiance” with 20,000 cubic metres capacity, entered the water in January 2021 at the Zhoushan Changhong Sinopacific shipyard in China’s eastern Zheijang province.

That vessel is scheduled to be delivered from the yard in the third quarter of 2021 and will join the Avenir fleet as the world’s largest LNG bunkering vessel.

Avenir’s first newbuild delivery, the “Avenir Advantage”, took place in October 2020 and has now been followed by the “Avenir Accolade” with other newbuilds, including one named the “Avenir Allegiance”, lined up for delivery during 2021. 

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has awarded a third LNG bunkering supplier licence to French energy major Total to operate in the Asian city-state supplying ship-to-ship fuel.

Gazprom Neft, the refining and logistics arm of Russian natural gas giant Gazprom, said the installation of tanks and other cryogenic equipment had now been completed on the nation’s first LNG bunkering vessel, scheduled to begin operations in 2021.

“This high-tech vessel will be providing environmentally-friendly NGV-fuel transportation and bunkering services for clients at major ports throughout the Baltic Sea area, including St Petersburg, Ust-Luga, Primorsk and elsewhere,” said the company.

Gazprom Neft’s bunkering vessel, which is currently being constructed at the Keppel Offshore and Marine shipyard in Singapore, will be the first ship in the Russian Federation able to undertake ship-to-ship LNG fuelling operations.

The Russian project is benefiting from Keppel’s strong track record in ice-class vessel construction and experience in handling cryogenic equipment. Keppel has so far delivered 11 ice-class vessels.

Gazprom Neft will begin LNG bunkering for likely first customers Rosmorport, the Russian state operator of ferries and service vessels, as well as energy shipping fleet and owner Sovcomflot for its 11 LNG-fuelled Aframax crude tankers on order.

The Arc4 ice-class Gazprom Neft vessel is 100 metres in length, and 19 metres wide and with 5,800 cubic metres of capacity. The average time for refuelling client vessels is likely to be around eight hours.

Gazprom Neft said construction work has already involved the installation of two cargo tanks, each with a capacity of 2,900 cubic metres and manufactured using a nickel-iron-based alloy.

It added that special reinforcing props attached to the hull structure in the cargo holds had to be used to install the tanks.

The LNG bunkering vessel has also been fitted with pumps and piping for loading and discharging LNG, and a fuel-tank cooling system.

In line with planned scheduling, the company said the next stage in building the LNG bunkering vessel was the installation of the cargo deck, while pipe-fitting and the installation of cargo-handling equipment is next on the agenda.

“The best international technologies, both in shipbuilding and in LNG storage and transportation, are being used on Russia’s first LNG bunkering project,” said Alexei Medvedev, Director General of Gazprom Neft-Marine Bunkering.

“Seventy percent of key construction works are now complete. The ship’s hull has been assembled, and energy facilities have been installed, as have fuel tanks,” added Medvedev.