A first LNG carrier left Norway’s Snohit LNG terminal on Monday after the plant officially restarted following lengthy repairs to damage from a fire in 2020.
Eikland Energy data service iGIS/LNG said the 142,929-cbm Arctic Voyager (built 2006) left the plant with a cargo on 6 June.
This vessel originally indicated it was inbound to the Melkoya Island terminal to the north of Hammerfest plant on 9 May. But the restart operations appear to have been delayed.
Snohvit operator Equinor said on Thursday that the Melkoya plant had restarted production.
Close observers of the project, who have been monitoring the long-awaited restart, said it has been producing since 30 May, although intermittent flaring indicated output then was not fully stable.
All approvals for the start-up are said to be in place with safety regulators. On Friday,Eikland Energy data service iGIS/LNG said three other LNG carriers are also waiting off the plant. They are Dynagas LNG Partners’ 154,899-cbm Arctic Aurora (built 2013), and Hoegh LNG’s 147,835-cbm Arctic Princess and 147,208-cbm Arctic Lady (both built 2006).
Snohvit last exported a cargo on 9 September 2020.
The 4.3-million tonne per annum Snohvit LNG plant, which first started operations in 2007, has been offline since a fire broke out in one of its turbines on 28 September 2020.
Its auxiliary systems, such as electrical equipment and cables, were damaged by the seawater used to tackle the blaze.
A planned restart in October 2021 was later pushed back to March 2022 and then postponed again.
Equinor blamed the delays on the scope of the repair work required and Covid-19 restrictions.
But as Europe clamours for LNG supply as it tries to free itself from dependency on Russian pipeline gas and LNG, the plant’s restart has been eagerly awaited.
