Keppel starts work on Greece’s first FSRU

Keppel’s Singapore shipyard has started work on the conversion of GasLog’s 155,000m³ LNG carrier, GasLog Chelsea. The converted vessel will become Greece’s first floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in the Aegean Sea.

The tri-fuel diesel-electric ship, built in 2010 and classed by DNV, has now been renamed Alexandroupoli. When the conversion is completed, the vessel will become an integral part of the Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System. It will feed about eight billion cubic metres of gas annually into Greece’s National Natural Gas Transmission System via a 28km pipeline. 

GasLog’s chief operating officer, Kostas Karanthanos, said: “GasLog believed in the FSRU Alexandroupoli endeavour from the very beginning, and at a time when energy security in Europe was 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.

“Through GasLog’s renowned high standards of safety and reliability, the FSRU Alexandroupoli will offer energy diversification and security to the wider region and establish GasLog as an integrated provider of natural gas solutions. We are thankful to DNV for their support and partner-mindset throughout the project,” he added.

Leonidas Karystios, DNV Maritime’s Regional Business Development & Gas Segment director, commented: “We are extremely proud to be part of a project with such a significant role in the improvement of energy security and autonomy in Greece and the entire south-Eastern Europe. In DNV, we have been providing technical support and risk management consultancy in all phases throughout the project’s development, and we are honoured to be the classification partner of this game-changing project.”