Lithuania Exports 1st Small LNG Cargo
Lithuania’s floating LNG import terminal on January 2 began reloading, for the first time, a small-scale LNG carrier. The ship and cargo have since set sail.
The floating import terminal, FSRU Independence, loaded the small-scale LNG carrier Coral Energy, according to a January 2 statement from oil and LNG port operator Klaipedos Nafta (KN). Its statement said it can be four times quicker to ship small LNG cargoes from Lithuania to mini-terminals in Sweden and Finland than the 80-hour sailing required from Rotterdam to such Scandinavian markets.
It follows a small study by KN on the technical feasibility and risk assessment of reloading LNG on small-scale carriers of between 1,000 and 30,000 m3 cargo size. FSRU Independence entered service as the first LNG import terminal in eastern Europe in late 2014. The FSRU’s owner Hoegh LNG also performed a feasibility study on the compatibility of Coral Energy and the terminal.
Coral Energy (Photo credit: shipowner Anthony Veder)
Europe’s leading small-scale LNG supplier and mini-terminal operator Skangas said last week it is the lifter, and that Statoil is the supplier, of this debut cargo. Statoil has been involved in supplying LNG to Lithuania for two years now: it has a long-term contract to supply gas utility Litgas at Klaipeda.
Coral Energy has a cargo capacity of 15,600 m3, entered service in 2013, and is on long-term charter to Skangas. It is the first small-scale LNG carrier to be filled in Klaipėda; KN said it was to be loaded with about 15,000 m3 of LNG.
Tanker tracking services showed that Coral Energy departed Klaipeda at about 8.30am London time on January 3, headed for the Skangas-owned small LNG import terminal of Lysekil in western Sweden where it is scheduled to arrive in the morning of January 5.
Mark Smedley