Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and LTW sign contract to build and charter an FRSU

LNG Terminal Wilhelmshaven (LTW) has signed a contract with Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines for an FSRU for operation in Germany's planned LNG terminal at Wilhelmshaven. LTW, a subsidiary of German power company Uniper, is the project developer and operator behind the potential LNG terminal at the deep-sea port on the North Sea coast.

The FSRU, designed in accordance with German requirements, will be built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and chartered from shipowner Mitsui OSK Lines by LTW for 20 years, Uniper said. It has been planned and custom designed by the two contracting parties in accordance with the local and environmental requirements for the German market and the Wilhelmshaven site.

The FSRU constitutes the heart of the future terminal and will make it possible to offload, store and regasify LNG for the German market. It will be moored off the coast and will handle incoming LNG tankers there. The regasified gas will then be pumped from the FSRU along a short connecting pipeline under the sea to the port facilities and finally fed into the German gas transmission network. This eliminates the need to construct complex regasification facilities on land. This optimised planning will minimise the environmental impact both on land and on the seabed by a non-disruptive crossing of the natural habitat identified in the environmental studies. The vessel will provide 263,000cu.m of storage capacity and feed regasified gas through port facilities into onshore transmission grids.

"The agreement to build and charter this FSRU is an important milestone for both parties on the journey to establishing and LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven," said Uniper board member Mr David Bryson.