LNG

Of the top ship-owning nations, the Greeks continue to outperform the nation’s size with a fleet ranked third globally behind Japan and China respectively in both the number of vessels and the total value, though Greece’s fleet value has been augmented by an increasing number of quality LNG carriers.

Eastern Pacific Shipping, the Singapore-based shipping line, and Golar LNG have agreed to join forces to run a Golar spin-off initially comprising eight tri-fuel, diesel-electric LNG carrier in a firm called Cool Company Ltd.

May 5 (LNGJ) - Trading in shares of Höegh LNG Holdings Ltd, the LNG fleet and projects company, has been suspended by the Oslo Børs in Norway to avoid incorrect registration of orders and trades in a situation where the company will no longer have any shares outstanding for trading. This follows the announcement that the family-controlled firm Leif Höegh and Co. and funds managed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners have completed the acquisition of Höegh LNG to take it private. However, the common and preferred units of US affiliate, Höegh LNG Partners LP, will remain outstanding and continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

   “With the completion of the amalgamation, the joint venture intends to undertake a comprehensive review of the company’s operational and financial strategy and that of its affiliates to strengthen the financial profile of the group and will carefully review its integrated business plan including future financial needs,” added the Leif Höegh and Co. statement.

Avenir LNG, a company owned by Norwegian shipping and infrastructure operators, said its newest 20,000 cubic metres capacity LNG bunkering vessel has been launched in China and it would be delivered later in 2021.

The “Avenir Allegiance” entered the water at the Zhoushan Changhong Sinopacific Shipyard Co. in China’s eastern Zheijang province.

“The vessel is scheduled to be delivered from the yard in the third quarter of this year and she will join the Avenir LNG fleet as the world’s largest LNG bunkering vessel,” said Avenir.

Avenir is a joint venture owned by London-based Norwegian shipping and storage company Stolt-Nielsen and its peer fleet owners and project companies, Höegh LNG and Golar LNG.

The company said that the “Avenir Allegiance” would be Cayman Island-flagged and is the fourth of six newbuilds delivered to Avenir.

Avenir’s first newbuild delivery, the “Avenir Advantage”, took place in October 2020 and will be followed by the “Avenir Accolade”, the “Avenir Aspiration”, the “Avenir Allegiance”, the “Avenir Ascension” and the “Avenir Achievement” during 2021.

“We are delighted to see the latest, and largest, vessel in the Avenir LNG fleet being successfully launched by our partners CIMC SOE,” said Peter Mackey, Chief Executive of Avenir LNG Limited.

“We look forward to taking delivery of the ‘Avenir Allegiance’ later this year,” he added.

Avenir CEO Mackey stated that as the largest LNG bunkering vessel in the world, the “Avenir Allegiance” was a clear demonstration of Avenir’s commitment to developing new LNG supply chains.

“She will play a critical role in helping the shipping industry to transition to LNG as a more environmentally sustainable fuel,” stated Mackey.

“The ‘Avenir Allegiance’ will operate as both an LNG bunkering vessel and an LNG supply vessel,’ explained the CEO.

“This highly flexible vessel underscores our strategy of simultaneously unlocking multiple new LNG markets with multi-functional assets.,” said Mackey.

Avenir is building up a fleet of LBVs vessels of between 7,500 cubic metres capacity and 20,000 cubic metres capacity.

Another of the LBVs, the “Avenir Advantage”, was delivered in November 2020 to the Future Horizon joint venture comprising Malaysia’s MISC Group and Avenir.

Additionally, Malaysian energy company Petronas has chartered the “Avenir Advantage” from Future Horizon for a period of three years.

Norwegian firm Stolt-Nielsen started up the small-scale LNG sector firm Avenir in 2015 and its two investors, Golar and Höegh, each have 22.5 percent of Avenir to Stolt-Nielsen’s 45 percent.

The experienced shipping partners of Avenir are aiming to build up the market in small-scale LNG supply to off-grid industry for power generation and transportation fuel, as well as providing infrastructure to support the development of LNG as a marine fuel.

Avenir additionally has an 80 percent stake in a small-scale LNG import project company Higas on the Italian island of Sardinia, while the local partners are Gas & Heat and CPL Concordia, each holding 10 percent of the Sardinia venture.

Norway, Western Europe’s biggest supplier of pipeline natural gas in competition to LNG, approved the go-ahead for the Northern Lights project, enabling the capture and sequestration of carbon-dioxide 2,600 metres below the seabed in geological strata to hand-off criticism of the fossil fuel industry.

The Hiranandani Group of India said its H-Energy subsidiary had entered into a binding commitment with Norway’s Höegh LNG for the supply of a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to be deployed at Jaigarh Port in the West Coast Indian state of Maharashtra.

Nov 15 (LNGJ) - Awilco LNG, the Norwegian shipping company with the smallest fleet in the business numbering two vessels, said the 156,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “WilForce” had completed repairs at a shipyard in Singapore after it was involved in a collision with another ship off the Asian city-state on May 30, 2019. “Loss-of-hire insurance of US$65,000 per day compensated for some of the lost time-charter hire in the period,” said Awilco.

   “Awilco LNG has a substantial claim towards the ship responsible for the collision. Settlement and collection of the claim is expected to take some time,” added the company. Awilco made its statement as it reported a narrowed loss of $1.1 million in the third quarter compared with $11.4M of losses in the same three months a year ago and a $8.6M loss in the second quarter of 2019. Awilco said its second carrier, the 156,000 cubic metres capacity “WilPride”, was chartered in July 2019 to an oil and gas major for eight months until March 2020.

Norwegian company Hoglund Marine Solutions has been awarded a contract by shipping company Bergen Tankers to deliver a cargo-handling system for the LNG bunkering vessel “Bergen LNG”.

“As part of a long-term charter with Shell Gasnor, the vessel will be the first LNG bunkering vessel to operate in Norway and will be retrofitted from an existing fuel oil bunkering ship,” explained Hoglund.

“Previously known as ‘Oslo Tank’, the ‘Bergen LNG’ vessel will operate in Bergen harbour from the fourth quarter of 2020 and will serve future LNG-powered cruise ships in the Hurtigruten and Havila coastal routes,” added Hoglund.

Hoglund said it would supply both hardware and automation solutions to ensure safe and efficient operations, including an IMO Type C cargo tank, cargo pumps, bunker manifolds, custody transfer system, and a ship-to-ship transfer system.

“Hoglund has worked on several of the world’s current LNG bunkering vessels, and each project has demonstrated how specialist expertise is needed to integrate and control the systems of these vessels safely and reliably,” said Peter Morsbach, the Director of Projects at Hoglund.

“Retrofits should be an easy way for an owner to benefit from the shift to alternative fuels, but there are complications that can stand in the way that require more than the standard one-size-fits-all solution to overcome,” he explained.

“Unlike a newbuild, which belongs to the yard until delivery, a retrofitted vessel is the property of the owner throughout its refitting,” added Morsbach.

“At Hoglund, we support the owner by drawing upon our dedicated expertise and vast experience to ensure an in-time delivery, installation of our solutions and overall integration of loose ends,” he stated.

Ingemar Tonder Presthus, the Technical & Marine Manager at Bergen Tankers, said that a retrofit was a complex technical challenge from both a hardware and software engineering point of view.

“Hoglund was an ideal choice, based on their track record fitting automation systems for LNG bunker vessels and other vessel types elsewhere in the world, and their ability to execute a retrofit quickly,” he added.

Despite newbuild deliveries at an all-time high and a closed West-East arbitrage window, spot market rates are presently at an all-time high and there is optimism in the industry, according to the small Norwegian fleet owner Awilco.