LNG

Royal Vopak, the Dutch global storage and terminals company and co-owner of the Gate liquefied natural gas import facility in Rotterdam, has purchased a stake in the floating LNG terminal in the Colombian Caribbean port of Cartagena.

Vopak said it bought 49 percent of Colombian company Sociedad Portuaria el Cayao (SPEC) in Cartagena, owner of the terminal which has been in service since 2016. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

The Dutch company also owns 60 percent of the Mexican Gulf Coast onshore LNG import terminal at Altamira.

The Colombian facility consists of an LNG jetty, onshore infrastructure and 9.2 kilometres of gas pipeline connecting to the national gas grid.

A chartered floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) is receiving the LNG and sending the gas to shore. The SPEC company holds long-term supply contracts with three local gas-fired power plants.

The FSRU, the 170,050 cubic metres capacity vessel “Hoegh Grace”, is on charter from Norwegian fleet owner Hoegh LNG.

The majority shareholder in the terminal company will remain the South American utility Promigas with 51 percent.

“We are very much looking forward to this partnership with Promigas and to enter into the growing Colombian LNG market,” said Eelco Hoekstra, Chairman and Chief Executive of Vopak.

“This is another growth step in our LNG portfolio and it fits very well in our ambitions to grow and diversify our service offering in LNG,” added Hoekstra.

Promigas is a private company in the natural gas sector in Latin America with 45​​ years of experience providing access to natural gas.

Dutch shipping line Anthony Veder has taken delivery from the collapsed Norgas fleet of two combined gas carriers each of 10,000 cubic metres capacity and capable of transporting liquefied natural gas and petrochemical gases, including ethylene.

Dutch engineering company Royal IHC was awarded a contract for the design and delivery of the complete dredge installations for two new LNG-powered trailing suction hopper dredgers (TSHD) being built for Dutch shipping firm Van Oord.

The Dutch Gate LNG import terminal in Rotterdam, now the focus of more trans-shipment activity from Russia, has requested interested parties to book capacity in an open season process.

Smit Lamnalco, the Netherlands based international towage and tug company, said it was awarded an exclusive five-year services licence from the Queensland port of Gladstone, where three Australian LNG export plants operate.