Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) has delivered the floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) Excelerate Sequoia to Excelerate Energy L.P. DSME has built all 10 of Excelerate’s FSRUs.
The Excelerate Sequoia has a storage capacity of 173,400 cubic meters and can operate as both an FSRU and a fully tradable LNG carrier.
Last September, Excelerate and Maran Gas Maritime Inc. signed a five-year bareboat charter agreement (BBC) for the FSRU. Excelerate will have the option to purchase the vessel during the five-year BBC.
The vessel completed its first gas-up and cool-down operations at POSCO Energy’s Gwangyang LNG Terminal in Jeonnam, South Korea, on June 21, 2020. Gas-up is one of the mandatory procedures an LNG carrier must perform to make the vessel commercially ready to receive LNG cargoes.
Excelerate Technical Management will provide ship management for the FSRU.
Qatar Petroleum initiates major LNG shipbuilding program
Qatar Petroleum has entered three agreements to reserve LNG ship construction capacity in the Republic of Korea for its future LNG carrier fleet requirements.
Under the agreements, the “Big 3” Korean shipyards - DSME, Hyundai Heavy Industries, and Samsung Heavy Industries - will reserve a major portion of their LNG ship construction capacity for Qatar Petroleum through the year 2027. This is the largest ever LNG shipbuilding program, according to Qatar Petroleum.
President and CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said: “These agreements will ensure our ability to meet our future LNG fleet requirements to support our expanding LNG production capacity and long-term fleet replacement requirements…
“We have secured approximately 60% of the global LNG shipbuilding capacity through 2027 to cater for our LNG carrier fleet requirements in the next seven to eight years, which could reach 100+ new vessels with a program value in excess of 70 billion Qatari Riyals [$19 billion].”
Borr receives sixth KFELS Super B Class jackup
Keppel FELS has delivered its sixth newbuild KFELS Super B Class jackup to Borr Drilling, on time and within budget. The Hild is designed to operate in 122 m (400 ft) of water and to drill to 10,668 m (35,000 ft). Features include a maximum combined cantilever load of 2,700 kips and high capacity hook loads of 2 million lb.
Previously Keppel FELS built the Saga, Skald, Thor, Hermod, and Heimdal KFELS Super B jackups for Borr. Five more are on order. However, Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. has entered a framework deed with Borr to, among other things, defer the scheduled delivery of the five jackups to 2022.
Based on the original delivery schedule, three out of the five rigs were scheduled for delivery by 3Q 2020 and the remaining two rigs by 1Q 2022. Pursuant to the terms of the framework deed, the delivery of one rig will be deferred to 2Q 2022 while the remaining four rigs are to be delivered by 3Q 2022.
The framework deed will become effective upon the satisfaction of certain conditions, including the obtaining of key creditor consents by Borr for, among others, deferral of principal and/or interest payments under certain credit facilities, sale and purchase and construction agreements, and the relaxing of certain restrictive covenants.
Edda Wind low-emissions vessels book long-term contracts
Edda Wind has signed long-term time charter agreements with MHI Vestas and Ocean Breeze Energy for two of the four offshore wind vessels ordered from Spanish yards.
The charter agreement with MHI Vestas for a newbuild service operation vessel (SOV) is expected to start in 2Q 2022 and has a firm period of 15 years.
The charter agreement with Ocean Breeze is expected to start in 1Q 2021 and has a firm period of 11 years. The contract will be served by a frontrunner vessel for the first year before the newbuild commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) will be delivered in 1Q 2022.
The CSOVs are 88.3 m (290 ft) and the SOVs 82.4 m (270 ft) in length. The CSOVs can accommodate up to 120 persons and the SOVs up to 60 persons.
Edda Wind has signed a construction contract for two CSOVs at Astilleros Gondan and a construction contract for two SOVs at Astilleros Balenciaga. Both yards are in northern Spain. The second SOV and the second CSOV will both be delivered in 4Q 2022. All vessels will be operated by Østensjø Rederi AS.
The newbuilds are designed by Salt Ship Design, Norway in close cooperation with Østensjø Rederi. According to the company, the vessels will be delivered with technology that reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum 30%.
Also, the vessels will be prepared for installation of zero emission hydrogen technology. The preparations for future zero emission propulsion systems are made possible by Enova funding. The upgrades include complete tank systems for hydrogen storage, dedicated machinery space for fuel cells, battery hybrid system, novel type propulsors and an extensive package of energy saving measures for most auxiliary systems such as HVAC and pumps systems.
Astrid Lilliestråle, Head of Transport at Enova, said: “In order to achieve zero-emission in offshore operations, there’s a need for new solutions both for further reduction of energy consumption and for utilizing alternative fuels. These vessels will contribute in both respects. The technologies developed and incorporated here will also be transferrable to other shipping segments.”
