Mitsui OSK Lines’ large floating storage and regasification unit has found interim employment in Singapore as it awaits deployment to a long-term contract in Hong Kong.

Those following the vessel, the world’s largest FSRU, said the 263,000-cbm FSRU MOL Challenger is now working for Singapore LNG (SLNG) on a short-term contract.

According to databases, the vessel has been renamed the Bauhinia Spirit.

The FSRU is believed to be employed as a storage unit in Singapore.

In March, brokers reported that a 215,000-cbm Q-Flex LNG carrier controlled by Qatargas was fixed on subjects by SLNG. But these were later said to have expired.

The 155,000-cbm GasLog Singapore (built 2010) was also reported fixed to SLNG for storage for a period of up to 12 months at a rate of $120,000 per day.

The Bauhinia Spirit’s working life has not evolved as expected.

Originally built for a project in Uruguay which later collapsed, the unit has worked as an FSRU in Turkey, and as a trading vessel.

MOL scooped CLP Power’s Hong Kong job for the unit in 2018 and the FSRU was due to be in operation by the end of 2020. But the project has been beset by delays.

In December, Dutch tank terminals company Vopak made its move into shipowning by buying a 49.99% share in the FSRU.

It will jointly operate the vessel with MOL.

MOL and Vopak said at the time that they plan to explore further downstream opportunities for bunkering of LNG as a marine fuel in Hong Kong.