An old liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier will be converted into Greece's first floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), destined for the eastern Mediterranean to supply the region.
The project is expected to be commercially operational by the end of 2023.
The vessel that will be used for the LNG import operation is a 2010-built ship that originally operated as the STX Frontier and became the Gaslog Chelsea in 2013.
It was renamed Alexandroupolis as of February 1st and is now registered in Greece.
The vessel has a deadweight tonnage of 86 353 and a capacity of 153 600 cubic meters (cbms).
It was moved to the Keppel shipyard in Singapore, where the conversion work began in February, although the concept for the project has been in the planning stage for the past six years.
DNV Maritime is overseeing the project, which will see the vessel equipped with a subsea and onshore gas transmission system with an LNG transfer rate of 10 000 cbms per hour.
According to Martin Cartwright, business director for Gas Carriers and FSRUs at DNV Maritime, the project is the record ninth FSRU conversion project that the organization has undertaken, highlighting the growing demand for FSRU projects.
According to GasLog, which developed the project and owns the FSRU, the Alexandroupolis is designed to add a new gateway for natural gas to the Greek and wider Balkan region.
GasLog COO Kostas Karathanos said the firm had believed in the FSRU Alexandroupolis endeavor at a time when energy security in Europe had been taken for granted.
"We worked patiently and diligently to reach this stage, and we are extremely proud to soon offer the first-ever FSRU in Greek waters," he said.
The project was first proposed in 2017 to be located 16 kilometres from Alexandroupolis, in Eastern Greece in the Aegean Sea.
Once in place, the project will be connected by an approximately 27-kilometer pipeline to the National Natural Gas Transmission System of Greece.
The existing transmission system also interconnects with Bulgaria and the Trans-Adriatic systems.
It is expected to have a regasification capacity of around eight billion cubic meters annually.
Demand for FSRUs was developing before the war in Ukraine, which has now further driven demand.
Croatia launched its FSRU operation in 2021, while Albania and Cyprus are adding regasification and storage capabilities. - Source: Maritime Executive
