Golar LNG announced on its website that it expects to sign an EPC contract with a shipyard in the third quarter of 2024 for the conversion of the 148,000 cbm Moss-type liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier “Fuji LNG” into a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility, “MKII FLNG”.
Golar LNG is understood to have acquired the Moss-type LNG carrier Fuji LNG from TMS Cardiff Gas, owned by Greek shipowner George Economou, in May 2023 for $73 million and is designated for conversion to an FLNG. After completed, the FLNG will have a capacity of 3.5 million tons per year.
Public information showed that “Fuji LNG” is 289.5 meters in length, 49 meters in breadth. Flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, the LNG carrier was built and delivered by Kawasaki Sakaide Works of Japan in 2004 and is 20 years old.
In addition to the “Fuji LNG”, Golar LNG has taken delivery of the converted LNG carrier “Gimi” from Keppel Shipyard, a subsidiary of Singaporean offshore giant Seatrium (formerly Sembcorp Marine), in late 2023. The conversion cost $1.3 billion.
The “Gimi”, with a cargo tank capacity of 126,000 cbm, was built in 1976 and has an annual capacity of 2.7 million tons when converted to FLNG.It will be deployed at BP’s Tortue Ahmeyim project (cross-border offshore gas project) in the Senegal/Mauritania offshore area, with a design operating life of 20 years, during which time it will not require dry docking, and is contracted to be operated offshore in water depths of 30 meters.