The third LNG cargo dispatched since the planned maintenance shutdown last autumn left Melkøya January 4. Production from Snøhvit resumed one week before Christmas, and the LNG vessels are back in regular operation. The plant was closed for a four month period for upgrading and maintenance. The maintenance shutdown was completed in early November, but start-up was delayed by problems affecting the facility’s large electrical motors, which form a central part of the refrigeration process. The defective motor has now been replaced by a reserve unit that was in store at Polarbase in Hammerfest.