Port Qasim News

Earlier this year Med Marine signed a contract with the Port Qasim Authority of Pakistan (PQA) for the delivery of a Conventional Twin Screw Buoy Tender Vessel, MED-B4500, for buoy-laying in the port located in the city of Karachi. MED-B4500 is a 45 x 11.8 meter vessel built to facilitate a crew of 16.

Turkey's Sanmar Shipyards said it has won contracts worth $33.46 million to supply four new tugs and two new pilot boats for the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) in Pakistan. The tugs are scheduled to be delivered in 12 months and the pilot boats in 10.The contracts were awarded following an international tendering process during which Sanmar championed its new Kocacay range of escort and harbor tugs, based on the exclusive-to-Sanmar RAstar 3200SX design from Canada-based naval architects Robert Allan Ltd.

Excelerate Energy announced it has agreed with partner Engro Elengy Terminal Ltd. (EETL) to expand the EETL liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Port Qasim, Pakistan.Under the heads of agreement (HOA), Excelerate will exchange its existing floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Exquisite with a newbuild FSRU, Hull 2477, which is currently under construction at South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard and due to be delivered in April 2020.

Qatar-based Shipyard, Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine (N-KOM) has recently received its first floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) project at the Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard.The FSRU owned by Excelerate Energy (USA) will undergo drydocking, maintenance and upgrades at the facility, which is renowned for its expertise in handling gas carriers.During its drydocking, the FSRU will undergo several modifications and retrofitting of new systems, including the installation of a ballast water treatment system (BWTS). To date, N-KOM has completed six such BWTS installations for various types of vessels such as LNG and LPG vessels as well as very large crude carriers (VLCCs).Nakilat Chief Executive Officer Eng.

The first ever ship-to-ship (STS) transfer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) was completed in The Bahamas by Excelerate Energy and Equinor Energy AS.According to Excelerate, which provides transportation and marketing of LNG, its floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) Exemplar and Equinor’s LNG carrier Arctic Voyager were used for the LNG transfer."A full LNG cargo was transferred using the double-banked LNG transfer system while moored at Equinor’s South Riding Point storage and transshipment terminal which is strategically located for storage and transshipment of crude, products and LNG," it said.“Excelerate conducted the industry’s first commercial STS transfer of LNG in 2007…

Dutch petroleum storage company Royal Vopak announced that it will acquire in total 44% in Elengy Terminal Pakistan Ltd  (ETPL) in separate transactions with International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Engro Corporation Ltd (Engro Corporation). This includes the acquisition of a 29% share announced in July.ETPL's wholly owned subsidiary, Engro Elengy Terminal (Pvt) Ltd (EETPL) owns an LNG facility which is located in Port Qasim in Pakistan, adjacent to the Engro Vopak chemical terminal on the mainland side of the channel into Port Qasim.The facility has been in operation since 2015 and is the first LNG import facility in Pakistan.The facility consists of an LNG jetty including a 7.5 km high pressure gas pipeline.

The CMA CGM Group, a world leader in maritime transport, is pleased to announce it is reinforcing its offer, starting 2 April 2018, from Indian Sub-Continent, in a partnership with HLC, MSC, COSCO and ONE. With 2 weekly and complementary services, this new offer will provide expanded port coverage and will also reduce transit times and improve schedule reliability of existing services. With this unique offer, CMA CGM pursues its ambition to strengthen its service to the Indian Sub-Continent market. EPIC 1 service: Rotation: Port Qasim, Nhava Sheva, Hazira, Mundra, King Abdullah, Gioia Tauro, Tangier Med, Southampton, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Dunkirk, Felixstowe, Le Havre, King Abdullah, Djibouti, Port Qasim. 2 vessels operated by the CMA CGM Group.

Swiss commodity trader Trafigura said it plans to develop its second liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Pakistan, alongside an existing project in which it has a minority stake.   At a inauguration ceremony for Pakistan's second LNG import project, Pakistan GasPort Ltd (PGPL), in Port Qasim in Karachi, the trader said it would add a jetty, berth and a second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to the existing facility.   Trafigura expects to benefit from lower development costs by taking advantage of existing infrastructure at the site. The joint venture with PGPL will sell gas to private sector customers.   It did not given any other details.   Reporting by Oleg Vukmanovic

Following its announcement of the China Pakistan Express 2 (CPX2) last week, Orient Overseas Container Line Limited (OOCL) is all set to introduce the China Pakistan Express 3 (CPX3), another new Intra-Asia service to expand  its product portfolio by providing a more comprehensive service network connecting the markets of India and Pakistan. The CPX3 provides additional sailing frequency from Central China to Mundra and strategically expands its service coverage in Pakistan. "Together with the CPX2, offering direct services from Xiamen to Karachi as well as Karachi to Shanghai, and the existing China Pakistan Express (CPX) product, we are able to offer a very comprehensive network with 3 sailings per week from Asia to Pakistan that is more flexible…

A consortium behind a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import project in Pakistan, including oil giant Exxon Mobil, France's Total and Qatar Petroleum, has been dissolved, shipping company Hoegh LNG said on Thursday. Hoegh LNG was due to supply the project's ship-based import terminal, a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), where LNG brought in by tanker is converted back to gas to feed into Pakistan's grid. The other six members of the consortium were Japan's Mitsubishi and Turkish developer Global Energy Infrastructure (GEI). "The consortium has spent considerable time and resources on finding [the project's] final form and structure.

A joint venture agreement between Japan’s Mitsui & Co. and Singapore’s BW Group Limited will see Mitsui purchase a 49 percent share in the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) BW Integrity, while BW will maintain a 51 percent share. The deal is expected to close as soon following payment for the acquisition. BW Integrity is currently in Port Qasim on a 15-year charter to PGP Consortium Limited (PGPC), to provide LNG regasification services at Pakistan’s second LNG import terminal. BW will continue to provide commercial and technical management services.

A group of leading business houses in Pakistan plan to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal by March 2019 for gas processing and consumption in their own plants, Reuters reported. The proposed, second multi-million dollars terminal being set up at the Port Qasim to handle LNG imports will give tremendous boost to LNG trade. The private terminal will bring the total number of potential LNG import projects in the country to eight. Currently, Pakistan has only one active LNG import terminal at Port Qasim in Karachi but is seen by traders and suppliers as a major growth market key to soaking up a growing glut of the fuel on international markets.

Excelerate Energy will deliver its second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to Pakistan following negotiations with a consortium comprising Engro, Fatima, and Shell. It is expected to be the country's 4th such floating terminal. The FSRU will be based at Port Qasim where Excelerate has had an FSRU, Exquisite, operating since March 2015 chartered to Engro-owned Elengy. Excelerate has a proven track record of successfully delivering fast-track floating regasification projects around the world and will use its experience to help the Consortium meet the aggressive delivery schedule required for the terminal. Most recently, Excelerate successfully commissioned GASCO’s Ruwais Floating LNG terminal in the UAE, which was implemented in less than 12 months.

Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices rose this week on the back of rallying gas benchmarks in Europe and a production outage in Angola. The price of LNG for December delivery was $7.20 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), up around 25 cents from a week earlier, buoyed by gains in British month-ahead gas prices. UK December gas rose as much as 10 percent this week. Further LNG spot gains may be capped as prices close the gap with long-term, oil-indexed LNG contract levels and with new supply emerging from U.S. and Australian liquefaction projects, analysts and trade sources say. LNG importers arbitrage between buying shipments on spot markets or through their long-term contracts which tend to act as a ceiling on spot prices.

APL today announced the launch of a new weekly service - the India Pakistan Europe (IPE) Service, directly connecting the key South Asian markets of India and Pakistan to major ports in Europe. The new IPE service builds on APL’s strong market presence and local expertise in India and Pakistan to enhance its Asia-Europe service offerings. “Europe is a premier trading partner and a major export market of South Asian countries. It is opportune that we expand our service coverage in Asia-Europe through the new IPE service, directly linking the major economies of India and Pakistan to Europe. As APL offers market connectivity, our priorities are also to provide reliable and timely cargo shipments across all regions,” said Eric Eng, APL Head of Asia Europe Trade.

BW Group (BW) has signed a 15-year agreement with Pakistan GasPort Limited (PGPL) to provide LNG regasification services utilizing a new-build Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) for the second Pakistan LNG terminal. BW’s state-of-the-art FSRU, Hull No. 2118 and currently at Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in Korea, will be utilized for this project. To be delivered in 4Q2016, the vessel offers a low environmental footprint, high efficiency, storage capacity in excess of 170,000m3 and a peak regasification capacity of 750mmscfd. “We are proud to be selected as the FSRU supplier for the Pakistan project,” says Yngvil Åsheim, Managing Director of BW LNG.

UASC announced two new Indian Subcontinent – Europe services (IEC1 & IEC2), to better align with its customer's needs, providing a superior service between India Subcontinent and Europe with enhanced reliability and more competitive transit times. These new, fixed day services are set to replace the current IEC1 service. By continuously introducing new and upgrading existing services, UASC can provide its customers with superior service reliability, competitive transit times and improved connections, allowing its customers to avail of new opportunities globally.

CMA CGM Group announced the launch of two new weekly services, EPIC 1 and EPIC 2, between the Arab Gulf, Pakistan, North West India and North Europe. The current Epic service will make room for the two new weekly services. EPIC 1 offering a direct connection between North Europe and Pakistan – North West India. • EPIC 2 offering a direct connection beetween North Europe and United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and North West India. The ship operators on both services allow CMA CGM to increase its departure frequency between the Indian subcontinent and North Europe, and enrich its ports coverage. In India with the addition of a weekly call in HAZIRA. In the United Kingdom with three weekly calls ( Southampton and Felixstowe on EPIC 1, London Gateway on EPIC 2).

Government aims for second terminal startup by mid-2017. Pakistan has launched a tender for a second liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, a government official said on Tuesday. The nation of 190 million people can only supply about two-thirds of its gas needs. The ruling party, which campaigned on promises of solving the energy crisis, wants to ease shortages by expanding LNG shipments before a 2018 general election. The official, who declined to be named, said the tender was launched earlier this month with a request for proposal (RFP) by Jan. 24. The government wants the terminal, to be built at Port Qasim in the southern city of Karachi, to be operational by around mid-2017, the official said.

United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) has announced a new Indian Subcontinent Mediterranean Express Service (IMEX), providing its customers with optimal coverage from the Arabian Gulf, Indian Subcontinent and Red Sea into West Mediterranean. This new, fixed–day, weekly service is set to replace UASC’s Middle East Indian Subcontinent Mediterranean - US East Coast service (MINA) that currently operates from Middle East to West Mediterranean and the U.S. As part of its global expansion and customer service excellence strategy…

United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) has launched a new Indian Subcontinent Mediterranean Express Service (IMEX) on 26 February, offering coverage from the Arabian Gulf, Indian Subcontinent and Red Sea into West Mediterranean. This new, fixed–day, weekly service is set to replace UASC’s Middle East Indian Subcontinent Mediterranean - US East Coast service (MINA) that currently operates from Middle East to West Mediterranean and the US. The IMEX service rotation, effective February 26th 2016, will be: Khor Fakkan - Jebel Ali - Port Qasim - Mundra - Nhava Sheva - Jeddah - Port Said East - La Spezia - Genoa - Fos Sur Mer - Barcelona - Valencia - Tangier - Genoa - Malta - Port Said West - Jeddah - Khor Fakkan.

CMA CGM announced changes to come on its shipping services connecting North Europe with Asia. New rotation on FAL 1: Starting in Hamburg on May 26, 2016 with m/v CMA CGM VASCO DE GAMA voy. Southampton - Dunkerque - Hamburg - Rotterdam - Zeebrugge - Le Havre - Malta - Khor Fakkan - Jebel Ali - Shanghai - Tianjin Xingang - Dalian - Busan - Qingdao - Shanghai - Ningbo - Yantian - Port Kelang - Algeciras - Southampton. New rotation on FAL 23: Starting in Hamburg on May 25, 2016 with m/v SALAHUDDIN voy. Antwerp - Hamburg - Felixstowe - Rotterdam - Le Havre - Port Kelang - Chiwan - Hong Kong - Shanghai - Ningbo - Yantian - Vung Tau - Port Kelang - Le Havre - Rotterdam - Antwerp. New FAL 7 service: Starting in Rotterdam on June 8, 2016 with m/v APL SENTOSA voy.

On July 17, 2015, Excelerate Energy L.P. completed the first Ship-to-Ship (STS) transfer of LNG at the Engro Elengy LNG Terminal located in Port Qasim, Pakistan. Excelerate’s floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), EXQUISITE, received 130,000 cubic meters of LNG from the FSRU EXCELERATE using the double-banked LNG transfer system. This transfer also marks the company’s 500th commercial STS operation using the double-banked cryogenic transfer system technology developed by Excelerate. Commissioned in late March of this year, the terminal initially employed the EXQUISITE for both cargo delivery and regasification purposes. The terminal will continue to receive LNG supply via periodical STS transfers allowing for the continuous flow of gas into the local gas distribution system.