Uniper Takes Delivery of New LNG Tanker

German utility Uniper took delivery of its latest LNG tanker Rosenrot (Rose Red) at the Daewoo shipyard in Okpo, South Korea January 28, it said. Uniper will be the ship's first charterer as part of a transport service contract that covers multiple trips. Its capacity is 180,000 m³ – slightly larger than the commoner 174,000 m³ – and its design speed is 19.5 knots.

The vessel is owned by Mitsui OSK Lines and Itochu Corporation-at the Okpo shipyard in South Korea. Its sister vessel is also named after a Grimm's fairy tale character – Snow White, in English. 

Uniper has identified LNG as a strategic growth area and said the Asia-Pacific region in particular has seen strong growth in the LNG trade in recent times: Uniper traded around two-thirds of its volumes of LNG in this region last year, it said.

This second transport contract with MOL has increased the LNG transport capacity available to Uniper and will help the company to grow its presence in the LNG sector, while also increasing the flexibility of its LNG portfolio.

Uniper said that in Europe and Germany, "reliance on certain supply regions is the subject of much discussion. Without LNG, there would be no global gas market. LNG now plays an important role in the energy supply, as well as in industry, the heating market and transport. As the production of natural gas in Europe continues to undergo a significant decline, the demand for imported natural gas will increase considerably in the coming years."

(banner image courtesy of Uniper)