LNG

Two shipping majors – TMS Cardiff Gas and BW Group and – have placed LNG carrier orders at South Korean shipyards, including the word-first three-tank carrier order. Expansion in the gas carrier segment is driven by rising ton-mile demand as Asian buyers replace curtailed Qatari volumes with cargoes from North America.

Feb 2 (LNGJ) - Seatrium of Singapore, a leader in LNG project and ship conversions as well as platforms for conventional oil and gas ventures, has secured a favoured customer contract (FCC) with Greece-based TMS Cardiff Gas for the repairs and upgrades of its fleet of 17 LNG carriers.

   The contract includes the refit of the vessels in Singapore. The two companies said they would jointly work towards achieving project targets like cost efficiency and timely deliveries. “The selection of Seatrium as our partner in Singapore aligns with our strategy to grow our LNG business in Asia,” said Alexandros Politis-Kalenteris, Deputy Chief Operating Officer of TMS Cardiff. “Moreover, Seatrium boasts a very strong track record in the specialised field of LNG carrier repairs and upgrades,” he added.

Winterthur Gas & Diesel (WinGD), headquartered in Switzerland, said WinGD’s latest generation of X72DF-2.1 engines will power 25 vessels as part of the QatarEnergy’s North Field East (NFE) project, the biggest LNG carrier newbuilding project in history.

BW LNG, the ship-owning subsidiary of Singapore-based BW Group, has taken delivery of the newbuild “BW Helios” with 174,000 cubic metres capacity from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering in South Korea.

The carrier, which will sail under a term charter with UK major BP, is the second LNG carrier to join BW LNG's fleet so far this year, after the 174,000 cubic metres capacity “BW Lesmes” was delivered by DSME in March.

BW LNG has a further two carriers remaining on its orderbook, the 174,000 cubic metres capacity “BW Iris” and same-sized “BW Cassia”, which are due for delivery in August-September 2022.

The BW Group has main offices in Bermuda, Singapore and Norway with a fleet of around 400 vessels, including 26 LNG carriers, 159 liquefied petroleum gas vessels and 160 products tankers.

A total of three new LNG carriers have joined the BW global LNG fleet so far in May, with Greek owners TMS Cardiff Gas and Alpha Gas each receiving a carrier earlier this month.

A further three carriers are scheduled to join the global fleet by the end of the month, with Danish owner Celsius, Norwegian firm Flex LNG and Japanese owner NYK Lines all due to pick up a single carrier.

LNG carrier deliveries are expected to slow from the third quarter, with 12 scheduled for both the third and fourth quarters of this year, before slowing further in 2022-2023.

In other activities in mid-May 20121, BW Group said a $128.3 million financial package was arranged to help fund a converted floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) as part of a gas-for-power project in the Latin American nation of El Salvador.

The financial package has a 15-year contractual term. The funds provide resources for the purchase and conversion of the “BW Tatiana” LNG carrier to an FSRU.
This is the region's first FSRU, which will be permanently moored at the Port of Acajutla in El Salvador.

BW LNG is developing the project with Invenergy, a multinational power generation and operations company.

Invenergy and BW LNG will jointly commission, operate and maintain the FSRU.