Yards and equipment manufacturers are being asked to quote on a project to supply a small-scale LNG carrier and an LNG bunker vessel (LNGBV) for a project floated by Russian energy company Novatek.
Those following the project, which emerged earlier this year but on which activity has recently geared up, said Novatek is seeking a 30,000-cbm LNG carrier in combination with an LNGBV of around 10,000-cbm capacity.
They explained that the small-scale LNG carrier would be used to ship LNG from the Cryogas-Vysotsk production plant, which started production this year, to Rostock in northern Germany.
Under the plans, the LNGBV would supply bunkers to vessels calling in the Rostock region.
In October last year, Novatek and Belgium’s Fluxys signed a deal with Rostock Port to build a mid-scale, 300,000-tonne-per-annum (tpa) LNG bunkering terminal at the German port, which the Russian energy company said would be supplied from Cryogas-Vysotsk.
'Potential to expand'
Novatek, working in partnership with Gazprombank, started production at its Cryogas-Vysotsk LNG plant in April.
An Anthony Veder-owned vessel shipped a first cargo to Finland from the 660,000-tpa plant, which is located 150 km (93 miles) north-west of St Petersburg on the Baltic Sea coast.
Opening the plant in April, Novatek chairman of management board Leonid Mikhelson said: “Our marketing strategy provides for loading of bunkering vessels, small wholesale LNG sales and LNG sales as motor fuel to the Baltics, Scandinavia and north-western Europe markets. We see potential to expand our commercial presence in this developing LNG market segment."
The output from the project’s first 330,000-tpa train has already been sold to Finnish buyers to supply the Pori LNG and Magna LNG terminals in Finland.
The Cryogas-Vysotsk liquefaction plant uses pipeline gas as a feedstock. Plans have been put forward to increase its capacity by 1.1 million tonnes per annum, with the addition of a third production train from 2021.
A decision on the expansion is due to be taken next year.
