A first floating storage and regasification unit for upcoming new LNG importer Croatia has arrived off the country's coast.
Data tracking shows the 140,000-cbm LNG Croatia (ex Golar Viking, built 2005) moving into a location in Rijeka Bay to the north of Krk Island in the northern Adriatic Sea after a 25-day voyage from China.
Local press reports say the vessel will head to the Viktor Lenac shipyard for tests.
The FSRU, which is in ballast, will then hook up with another LNG carrier in the Adriatic for a ship-to-ship LNG transfer.
It is due to be operational at developer LNG Croatia's site in Sepen Bay by 1 January.
China conversion
The FSRU left China's Huarn Dadong Dockyard, part of Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group), on 19 September.
Golar Power netted the job to provide the LNG carrier-to-FSRU conversion in 2018 based on a bid of €159.6m ($179.7m).
The regas vessel is the key element of the €233m project, €101m of which is being provided from a European Union grant from the Connecting Europe Facility.
LNG Croatia has said the FSRU will offer a nominal regasification capacity of 300,000 cbm per hour, or 2.6bn cbm per annum.
Qatari trader Powerglobe, the energy arm of Optimized Holding, has booked capacity at the new Croatian facility equal to 468m cbm per annum over a 15-year period.
LNG Croatia plans to expand with an onshore terminal in a second phase.
