Work is due to start this quarter on modifying Italy’s floating storage and regasification unit off Livorno so that it can offload LNG cargoes to small-scale and bunkering vessels.
A spokesperson for OLT Offshore LNG Toscana — which owns and manages the FSRU Toscana — told TradeWinds that under the plans work will be carried out to the port side of the terminal.
This will entail adding fairleads and winches to moor small-scale LNG carriers and modification of the existing port side LNG transfer system for small-scale LNG carriers to use flexible hoses with emergency release systems.
Full-size LNG carriers currently visiting and discharging to the FSRU are moored on the starboard side of the terminal. Regasified product is sent ashore into the National Gas Pipeline Network, through a 36.5 km (22.7 mile) pipeline.
The FSRU, which is moored about 22 km off the coast between Livorno and Pisa, will be able to load small vessels of between 90 metres and 120 metres in length, corresponding to an average size of about 7,500 cbm, depending on the type of containment system.
OLT Offshore LNG Toscana sees the adaptation as an additional service that can be added to the FSRU.
Small-scale feeders
Instead of sending volumes ashore via pipeline, cargoes would be discharged from the port side into small-scale feeder vessels, either to be shipped to Mediterranean ports for bunkering or land transport use.
The spokesperson said the authorisation process to add the new feature to the FSRU began in March 2019. It is expected to be concluded in September, after which work could start.
The FSRU could be ready to receive small-scale LNG carriers from the end of 2021.
Asked how often the company envisages operations taking place for this new service, OLT Offshore said it depends on the request from the market for the small-scale LNG and regasification services.
“At the moment, we can only confirm that, already, many shippers and potential users of the terminal have expressed their interests in this new service, that currently is not yet available in Italy.”
The FSRU Toscana, which has a maximum authorised regasification capacity of 3.75bn cbm a year, has been operational off Livorno since 2013 and working at 100% capacity since October 2018. At the end of July, the facility received its 100th cargo.
