Lng Transportation

Höegh LNG to Sell LNG Carrier

Höegh LNG has agreed to sell its LNG carrier Höegh Galleon to Maverick LNG Holdings Ltd on private terms. The Vessel is scheduled to be delivered to its new owner between July and October 2007. In the meantime the vessel is available for employment. The buyer intends to use the vessel as temporary LNG storage associated with their LNG transshipment and storage projects, including prospective power generation development. Alternatively Maverick is considering specialized deployment as the company has completed extensive engineering associated with various Höegh Galleon conversion alternatives including FSRU (Floating Storage Regas Unit) and FLNG (Floating Liquefaction of Natural Gas) options. The 87,000 cubic meter capacity Höegh Galleon was built in 1974 and was acquired by Höegh LNG in 1998 and rebuilt to high standard. The vessel operated under a long term time charter to Suez LNG North America until 2006 when Suez LNG North America ordered the vessel in lay-up and later terminated the charter originally valid until 2017 against a cancellation fee. Höegh LNG will continue to manage the vessel technically for an unspecified period of time. Höegh LNG is a fully integrated LNG transportation entity operating a fleet of six LNG carriers of which five are wholly or partly owned. The company took delivery of two new LNG carriers in 2006 and placed orders for two innovative Shuttle and Regasification Vessels (SRVs), with an option for a third.

Hudong-Zhonghua to Build LNG Carriers for PNG, Gorgon Jansz

Exxon Mobil Corporation (ExxonMobil) and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) announced that they have selected Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd. (Hudong), a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, to build four LNG carriers in China.  These carriers will provide LNG transportation from the Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Gorgon Jansz LNG projects and will be jointly owned by MOL and China Shipping (Group) Company (CS).  

Wärtsilä Land & Sea Academy Opens a New Training Center

Wärtsilä Land & Sea Academy (WLSA) today opened a new training center in Turku, Finland. This is one step for WLSA in its development program of opening three Academies for global coverage of training and competence management services to the personnel of ship owners and power plant owners. A new training centre was opened at Subic Bay in the Philippines in November 2005 and the third is located in Fort Lauderdale, USA

GAO – Consequences of LNG Tanker Spill

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report of its testimony at a hearing conducted by the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on the safety and security of liquefied natural gas. The GAO convened an expert panel, which agreed that the most likely public safety aspect of an LNG spill is the heat impact and that explosions are not likely to occur unless LNG vapors are in a confined space

El Paso Global LNG Signs MOU With EGAS

El Paso Global LNG, a subsidiary of El Paso Corporation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and the Eqyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to investigate opportunities for El Paso to invest in the natural gas sector in Egypt. The MOU will allow the parties to cooperate in the exploration, production, gathering, transportation, and processing of natural gas and the possible development of a liquefied natural gas

BV to Class LNG Carrier

International classification society Bureau Veritas has been chosen to class the 153,500 cu m LNG carrier ordered by Gaz de France from Chantiers de l'Atlantique this week. This is the largest ever LNG carrier and is due for delivery in 2005. The order includes an option for a second vessel. BV helped develop the concepts for the vessels, and developed unique new rules to allow the yard and owners to break new technological frontiers.

Court Ipholds LNG DWP License

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the decision of the Secretary of Transportation to grant a license for the construction and operation of the Gulf Landing LNG DWP in the Gulf of Mexico. Plaintiffs had challenged the decision, asserting that the environmental impact statement (EIS) was deficient and that the Secretary should have required the use of a "closed loop" system for warming the liquefied natural gas (LNG)

Unitor fire protection systems for Spanish LNG newbuildings

The Ships Equipment Division of ship service specialist Unitor has won the contract to supply fire protection systems to four 93,450-grt, 138,000-cu.-m. LNG carriers building at Spain's Izar for transportation of natural gas been the Caribbean and Spain and Egypt and Spain. Under the terms of the deal, Unitor will deliver its advanced HotFoam, water mist and CO2 engineroom fire protection systems to the four LNG newbuildings under construction at Izar's Bilbao and Sestao shipyards.

US FERC OKs LNG Projects in Mississippi

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday gave final approval to two liquefied natural gas import terminals along the Mississippi coast. The LNG Clean Energy Project, located in the Port of Pascagoula, will be able to send out up to 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas a day. The $450m terminal, which will be owned by the Houston-based private investor group Gulf LNG Energy LLC, will be able to handle 150 LNG tankers a year.

Washington State Ferries Explores LNG as Fuel

“WSF burns more than 17 million gallons of ultra-low sulfur diesel each year – and it’s our fastest growing operating expense. LNG has the potential to significantly reduce emissions and the cost of fuel,” said Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Assistant Secretary David Moseley. LNG as a fuel is a promising, but new technology. To ensure that the safety, security and operational challenges of such a move is handled in a responsible manner