Thursday, June 28, 2007
Exmar puts faith in regasification fleet.
June 28, 2007
Lloyd's List
ONE of the pioneers of regasification vessels, Exmar continues to show its faith in the sector as it signs for an eighth LNG regasification vessel, as well as securing an option for a ninth.
No values were revealed but it is believed that number eight represents an order in the region of $260m.
Again to be built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, hull number 2272 will have a capacity of around 150,900 cu m and delivery is scheduled for the second quarter of 2010.
The eighth in the series will include the GTT 96 membrane containment system. Exmar’s option on the ninth vessel will be for delivery in 2010.
Exmar’s strategic partner in the sector, Excelerate Energy, will also be participating in the ownership of the vessel, as well as for hull numbers 2270 and 2271, which were also ordered from DSME in 2006 and will be delivered in 2009.
The trio will be named Exquisite, Exemplar and Expedient.
This move to invest in these Energy Bridge vessels brings the firm’s fleet to nine.
These vessels use Excelerate Energy’s Energy Bridge technology, which allows LNG to be revapourised to gas onboard so that it can then be fed into natural gas pipelines.
The fleet will be used to serve the proprietary LNG market access points in the Excelerate GasNet, the company’s trading and logistics platform.
The partners believe that performing commercial ship-to-ship LNG transfers, either at traditional offloading facilitiesor by onboard regasification directly into gas networks gives them a competitive advantage compared with other LNG carriers.
Exmar has also furthered it relationship with Kong Kong owner Wah Kwong in the liquefied petroleum gas market, through a joint venture for six pressurised vessels.
The Belgian firm and Wah Kwong are going 50-50 in the deal for the six tankers, each with a capacity of between 3,500 and 5,000 cu m.
Wah Kwong ordered the tankers last year. Being built in Japan, these are scheduled for delivery between November, 2008, and July 2009.
Exmar and Wah Kwong already have a partnership involving two mid-size gas carriers, Touraine and Brugge Venture.
Shitanoe is building two ships of 5,000 cu m and one of 3,500 cu m and Yamanishi is building three 3,500 cu m vessels.
