Portugal’s Galp Energia has issued a tender for a lone LNG carrier as it seeks cover for new volumes.
Industry players have received documents requesting technical and commercial offers. The tender did not detail any specific propulsion or containment systems.
Interested shipowners have until 7 February to submit bids. Offers need to remain valid until 4 May.
Galp, which had been speaking to owners late last year, said it needs the vessel for delivery in the first half of 2022. It said the ship will probably undertake three voyages in 2022 before starting full operations the following year.
Brokers said previously that the requirement could most likely be filled by an existing vessel or a speculatively ordered, as-yet uncommitted newbuilding.
Galp is seeking a vessel to lift the volumes it has signed up to buy from new liquefaction developer Venture Global LNG. Lisbon-based Galp is taking 1 million tonnes per annum from the Calcasieu Pass facility over a 20-year period.
The under-construction, 10.8-mtpa Calcasieu Pass in Louisiana — the first of two projects being developed by Venture Global with a modular construction build-out — was sanctioned last year and is due to start up in 2022.
Galp is not a new player in LNG. Its sale-and-purchase agreements with Algeria’s Sonatrach began in 1997 and those with Nigeria LNG in 2000. Cargoes are shipped in via the Sines LNG Terminal in Alentejo, south of Lisbon.
More recently, Galp has been partnering ExxonMobil on its upcoming 15.2-mtpa Rovuma LNG project in Mozambique, on which partners are due to take a final investment decision in the first half of this year.
Galp has also dived into LNG bunkering. It wrapped up its first operation two years ago when it supplied bunkers to Carnival’s 125,570-gt, 3,300-passenger cruiseship AIDAprima (built 2017) at Funchal in Madeira.
The company has spoken about extending its LNG bunkering activities with a hybrid barge.
