LNG

Seatrium of Singapore, a leading global company in repairing, upgrading or refitting LNG carriers, has signed another favoured customer contract - this time with Teekay Shipping in Australia.

Seatrium said that this latest Teekay agreement was its first with a leading ship management company for the repairs and upgrades of a fleet of vessels under its Australia Defence Maritime Support Services Program (DMSSP).

The contract, which includes the refit of a series of vessels over the next two years, will see Seatrium collaborating closely with Teekay in joint planning, information sharing, and leveraging mutual experience to facilitate the successful execution of these projects.

The Singaporean company earlier in July 2024 signed an FCC with the Angelicoussis Group, the largest shipping line in Greece and one of the world’s largest privately-owned fleets with 141 ships operating under Maran Gas, Maran Tankers and Maran Dry.

Seatrium said that two-year contract with a one-year renewal option included the refit of 10 to 15 vessels per year comprising LNG carriers, tankers and bulk carriers.

Korean accord

This followed a previous FCC in May 2024 with a South Korean shipping company, Hyundai LNG Shipping, marking the first long-term strategic partnership agreement with a Korean LNG transporter for the repairs and upgrades of its LNG carriers.

That contract included the refit of a series of LNG carriers over the next two years.

The Teekay Australia accord was signed between Tony Armstrong, Managing Director of Teekay Australia, and Alvin Gan, Executive Vice President, Repairs and Upgrades at Seatrium.

Seatrium is attracting global shipping and energy companies because of its offering of one-stop repair and upgrade solutions for all types of vessels and offshore structures.

We develop strong relationships with our clientele to offer vessel owners highly customised and proactive solutions for all vessel repairs and upgrades, including energy efficiency.

Strategic partnership

Peter Iuliano, Head of Operations of Teekay Shipping Australia, said this strategic partnership marked a significant move for the company.

“By collaborating with Seatrium, we aim to enhance our operational efficiency and instil the highest standards of quality, safety, and environmental sustainability in the maintenance of our specialised vessels,” explained Iuliano

“Our first vessel under the Favoured Customer Contract agreement scheduled for repairs in Seatrium’s Admiralty Yard in Singapore is in July 2024, with six more dockings planned. We look forward to a fruitful and successful partnership with Seatrium,” he declared.

Seatrium executive Gan said that his company was delighted to be chosen as the strategic partner for Teekay’s Australian operations.

“This agreement not only highlights our expertise in specialised repairs for naval and maritime security related projects, but also demonstrates our dedication to delivering excellence and customised solutions to our partners,” Gan stated.

Shipping subsidiaries of energy majors Chevron Corp. and TotalEnergies along with the LNG and gas cargoes carrier company Seapeak, have joined a global technology-led initiative for cleaner shipping.

The Methane Abatement in Maritime Innovation Initiative (MAMII) is led by SafetyTech Accelerator, a firm established by UK maritime classification society Lloyd’s Register.

“Our mission is to make the world safer and more sustainable through wider adoption of technology,” said SafetyTech Accelerator.

TotalEnergies and Chevron joins the group with Seapeak, which was formerly known as Teekay LNG and alone has over 90 gas carriers, including 50 LNG tankers.

The three companies join the now more than 20 members of MAMII, emphasising its pivotal role in addressing methane abatement within the maritime sector.

Contributions

Chevron, Seapeak and TotalEnergies have pledged to bring their valuable insights and commitment to the critical challenge of “methane slip”, an escape of gas that adds to pollution from dual-fuel engines or other technology.

The initiative has additionally selected four technology providers to produce feasibility studies on the technologies which will reduce methane emissions from ships.

“The release of unburnt methane is a key obstacle to unlocking the full environmental potential of LNG as a maritime fuel,” said a statement.

Now in its second year, MAMII was launched in September 2022 by Safetytech Accelerator, bringing together industry leaders, technology innovators and maritime stakeholders to mitigate methane emissions.

“Chevron Shipping is very pleased to join MAMII. We are committed to reducing methane emissions from our LNG carriers and MAMII is an excellent opportunity for us to work with industry leaders on sharing best practices and exploring new technologies,” said Lloyd Bland, a senior manager at Chevron Shipping.

Chris McDade, Vice President of Operations at Seapeak said that LNG was already the preferred choice versus traditional marine fuels.

“However, but even more can be done to minimise the environmental impact,” McDade added.

Partners

“As a MAMII anchor partner, our fleet will directly participate in feasibility studies, new equipment trials and testing of technical solutions to reduce or eliminate methane slip from LNG vessels,” he stated.

The initiative is currently focussed on “on-ship” trials, expanding the range of pilot projects and starting to address fugitive methane emissions covering the entire spectrum of emissions on LNG-fuelled vessels.

“As the world's third-largest LNG player, we are delighted to be joining the MAMII initiative and contribute our expertise in reducing the emissions all along the gas value chain,” said Jerome Cousin, Senior Vice President of Shipping at TotalEnergies.

“It is key for TotalEnergies to further improve the environmental benefits of LNG as a marine fuel, already a major decarbonization lever for the maritime industry,” Cousin added.

The full list of MAMII members: Capital Gas, Carnival Corp. Celsius Tankers, Chevron, CoolCo, JPMorgan, Knutsen Group, Lloyd’s Register, Maran Gas Maritime, Mediterranean Shipping Co., Mitsui OSK Lines, MISC, NYK Line, Seapeak, Seaspan Corp., Shell, TMS Cardiff Gas, TotalEnergies, UK P&I Club and United Overseas Management.

South Korean LNG shipbuilder, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME), said it cancelled the last of three LNG carrier orders from 2020 to serve the Yamal LNG export facility in Arctic Russia, operated by natural gas company Novatek.

Seapeak LLC, formerly known as Teekay LNG Partners and with interests in 47 LNG carriers, 20 mid-size liquefied petroleum gas carriers and seven multi-gas vessels, has formally taken the name of Seapeak and implemented several corporate changes.

The Teekay partnership in January 2022 officially became part of the US investment fund firm, Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, and the renaming process to Seapeak began.

Seapeak’s ownership interests in these 74 vessels range from 20 percent to 100 percent and the company also owns a 30 percent interest in the Bahrain LNG regasification terminal in the Arabian Gulf.

The company said that effective from February 25 Teekay was converted from a limited partnership formed under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands into a Marshall Island limited liability company.

“Accordingly, all of the rights and liabilities of Teekay LNG in its prior partnership form are automatically vested in Seapeak,” said a statement.

“Concurrent with the conversion, Teekay has changed its name from Teekay LNG Partners LP to Seapeak,” it added.

The changes extend to the stock exchange ticker symbols and those for outstanding securities.

Teekay’s New York Stock Exchange preferred units ticker changes from TGP to SEAL.

Oslo-listed bonds

Effective from March 1, 2022, the ticker symbols for Seapeak’s Norwegian Kroner-denominated bonds listed on the Oslo Børs will be changed from TKLNG05, TKLNG06 and TKLNG07 to SPK05, SPK06 and SPK07 respectively.

As regards the NYSE common units, these were delisted in January 2022.

Teekay had started its LNG business in 2004 and publicly listed as Teekay LNG Partners on the NYSE in 2005.

Over the next 18 years, the shipping line built an LNG franchise into the world’s third-largest independent LNG carrier owner and operator.

It also expanded the business into the LPG carriers sector and completed several highly specialized and complex projects.

These included building six Arc7 ice-breaker LNG carrier for the Russian Yamal LNG project and it became part of the joint venture in Bahrain to build and deliver the Arab kingdom’s regasification terminal.

Burckhardt Compression, the Swiss LNG-equipment maker, is providing a comprehensive overhaul service for fleet owner Teekay LNG as part of a long-term service agreement between the two companies.

Teekay LNG has interests in 47 LNG carriers, 23 mid-size liquefied petroleum gas carriers and seven multi-gas carriers.

Part of Teekay’s LNG fleet is equipped with dual-fuel propulsion systems that use boil-off gas (BOG) for fuel to deliver cargoes around the world.

Each of these vessels is equipped with a Burckhardt-supplied Laby®-GI BOG compressor that supplies fuel to the main and auxiliary engines as well as the reliquefaction system and the gas combustion unit.

“After five years in operation, the compressor on the ‘Creole Spirit’ was due for a scheduled maintenance inspection during dry-dock in Singapore,” explained Burckhardt.

“Dry-dock maintenance projects are planned years in advance. With hundreds of specialist technicians and engineers working for dozens of suppliers, precision coordination by all those involved is essential,” added the company, based in Winterthur, northern Switzerland.

“The resources involved and the scale of these projects mean that everyone has to deliver their part perfectly for the on-time completion of the whole scheme,” said Burckhardt.

Burckhardt said its team planned and coordinated the numerous groups of contractors working on the compressor skid in the confines of the compressor machinery room to ensure optimum working safety and efficiency.

As the only BOG compressor on board, it is a crucial piece of equipment and the maintenance project was essential for continued availability.

“Thanks to more than a year’s planning, the service ran with Swiss precision and was completed within the 13 days allotted, ensuring the complete dry-dock program was also accomplished on time and without any safety incidents,” stated Burckhardt.

Preparations included tailor-made packing cases for all the parts that were shipped to the Singapore Service Center to ensure safe transportation.

Burckhardt’s on-site engineers were also able to quickly provide a solution to additional components of the control system that needed to be replaced.

With such a successful project, Teekay LNG has said that it appreciated the benefits of the partnership with Burckhardt, which adds considerable value to their operation.

“The fleet of LNG vessels equipped with the Laby®-GI BOG compressor will continue to deliver reliable service and contribute to reduced sulfur and CO2 levels,” added Burckhardt. 

The Russian authorities said that cargo transportations along the Northern Sea Route from Russia to Asia in the January-September 2021 period have amounted to 24.22 million tons, which is 3.5 percent more than in the same period last year.

Teekay LNG Partners, whose gas group units own, charter or have stakes in 77 vessels, including 47 liquefied natural gas carriers and 30 liquefied petroleum gas or multi-gas vessels, reported a first-quarter net profit following a loss in the year-ago period as voyage revenues also jumped.

First-quarter net income attributable to partners and preferred unit holders swung to a profit of $87.59 million from a loss of $32.90M in the prior-year period.

Voyage revenues increased 9 percent in the first quarter to $152.80M versus the $139.88M in the in the same three months of 2020.

“Results were positively impacted by operational claims under the Partnership’s charter contracts, lower repairs and maintenance expenses and lower net interest expense during the first quarter of 2021,” said the company.

“These increases were partially offset by redeployment of certain LNG carriers at lower rates and unscheduled off-hire for repairs,” added Teekay.

Teekay said it secured three LNG charters during March and April 2021, increasing the Partnership's LNG fleet to 98 percent fixed for the remainder of 2021, and 89 percent fixed for 2022.

In its chartering activities, the Partnership in April 2021 secured a fixed-rate charter contract for the “Oak Spirit” LNG carrier, which is expected to commence in August or September 2021, for a period of one-year.

In March 2021, a one-year, spot market-linked charter contract, with a one-year, fixed-rate option was arranged for the “Creole Spirit” LNG vessel.

Both of the vessels are modern, next generation, large LNG carriers with two-stroke engines with M-Type Electronically Controlled Gas Injection (MEGI).

As regards the dual-fuel, diesel-electric powered carrier, “Arwa Spirit”, which is 52 percent-owned by Teekay, the company said the charterer had exercised its one-year option to extend the contract to May 2022 at a fixed-rate.

“The strength of our fixed-rate LNG contract portfolio was evident again this quarter as Teekay LNG continued to generate strong earnings and cash flows even as the broader spot LNG shipping market declined from the high levels experienced during the recent winter period,” said Mark Kremin, President and Chief Executive of Teekay Gas Group Ltd.

“This decline was short-lived, however, as LNG demand rebounded counter-seasonally in late-March and into the second quarter of 2021,” added Kremin.

“We were able to take advantage of this strength by chartering out three LNG vessels, including one on a 12-month spot market-linked contract that allows us to achieve full utilization of the vessel while also retaining upside to strong markets,” stated the CEO.

Sovcomflot, the Russian shipping line with an overall fleet of 145 vessels, said its LNG carrier, the “Christophe De Margerie”, reached Cape Dezhnev in Russia’s Far East to complete the earliest annual eastbound voyage carrying a cargo along the Northern Sea Route.

Russian natural gas company Novatek, operator of the Yamal LNG export plant in northern Siberia, confirmed the completion of the first ship-to-ship LNG trans-shipment in the Kildin Strait of the Barents Sea, an area that came to prominence for a naval incident involving two nuclear-powered submarines in the post-Cold War era.

Zvezda Shipbuilding in the Russian Far East has held a steel-cutting ceremony for the first in a series of 15 ice-breaking LNG carriers ordered by the nation’s Sovcomflot shipping line to serve the Arctic LNG II export project being developed by natural gas company Novatek.

The Zvezda complex is located at Bolshoi Kamen on the coast of the Sea of Japan and about 12 miles northeast of the city of Vladivostok.

The shipbuilder is owned by a consortium of Russian energy companies, including Rosneftegaz, Rosneft and the financial affiliate of Gazprom, Gazprombank.

Shipbuilding, financing, lease, and time-charter contracts were signed last year by the four companies involved in ordering the 15 vessels, the first of which is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2023.

Participants in the ceremony on November 20 included Yury Borisov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Leonid Mikhelson, Chairman of Novatek, Igor Tonkovidov, President and Chief Executive of Sovcomflot and Sergey Tseluyko, Managing Director of Zvezda Shipbuilding and Daniil Algulyan, Deputy Chairman of VEB.RF, the Russian bank providing the financing.

“The steel-cutting for the lead vessel heralds the building of a new generation of ice-breaking LNG carriers,” said Sovcomflot (SCF).

“The design of these new vessels incorporates the many years of experience Sovcomflot has acquired in operating large vessels within challenging ice conditions,” it added.

“The engineering solutions selected for this class of vessel will enable increased speed and manoeuvrability when sailing in ice conditions, compared with ice-breaking LNG carriers of the previous generation,” explained the shipping line.

“This will, for the first time, allow year-round navigation in the eastern sector of the Russian Arctic, thereby expediting the implementation of national plans to boost cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route,” it added.

All the vessels in the series will be assigned an Arc7 ice class.

The first LNG carrier of the series was ordered directly by SCF, while the other 14 vessels were ordered by Smart LNG, a joint venture of Sovcomflot and Novatek.

The shipbuilding process is being supervised by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.

During the ceremony, Deputy Federation Minister Borisov said that the start of work was preceded by a “tremendous effort” both in terms of organisation and production preparations.

“These vessels will significantly contribute to the development of cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route, which is strategically important for Russia,” explained Borisov.

Each vessel will have capacity of more than 172,000 cubic metres and be 300 metres long and over 48 metres wide. Their power capacity is 45 megawatts, with each vessel equipped with three unique azimuth propulsion units.

“The start of construction of the first in this new generation of LNG carriers by Zevzda is a significant milestone for the Russian shipbuilding industry, which has never before constructed vessels with this level of engineering complexity,” said SCF CEO Tonkovidov.

“We are looking forward to continuing our close collaboration with our partners and are ready to further support the Russian civilian shipbuilding industry as part of the implementation of major energy projects,” stated the CEO.

All the 15 new LNG carriers will be registered under the Russian flag and will be operated by Russian crews.

The Arctic LNG II project is being developed with three gravity-based platforms and the estimated capital expenditure for the joint venture is now put at the equivalent of US$21.3 billion.

Arctic LNG will produce almost 20 million tonnes per annum of LNG as well as gas concentrate from the principal feed-gas resources, the Utrenneye gas field.

Novatek holds 60 percent of the Arctic LNG project and four other 10 percent stakes are shared between various shareholders.

The 10 percent holdings belong to French major Total, which is also a shareholder in the Novatek company, China National Petroleum Corp., China National Offshore Corp. and a Japanese investor group comprising Mitsui & Co. and the government institution, the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (Jogmec).