GM&T, Gazprom Flot sign technical consulting deal for Kaliningrad FSRU

Gazprom M&T and Gazprom Flot have signed a deal to provide technical and commercial advisory services during the construction of an FSRU that will be used to supply natural gas to the Kaliningrad Region of Russia.

The FSRU was ordered earlier this year by Gazprom at Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan and will be delivered in November 2017, GM&T said in a statement.

The FSRU will combine LNG storage (max capacity 174,100 cbm) and natural gas processing (max sendout 500 mmscf/day) capabilities with sea-going (speed up to 19.5 knots), energy efficiency (BOR below 0.09%/day) and ice (Arc 4 ice class from the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping) characteristics, which will enable the FSRU’s flexible utilisation as a regasification plant, an LNG shuttle or a conventional LNG carrier depending on the energy security situation in the Kaliningrad Region.

In addition, the FSRU will be adapted for handling small-scale LNG vessels for Gazprom’s future LNG bunkering business in the Baltic Sea. It also includes expanded accommodation and specialised equipment for shipboard and LNG handling training of cadets from the Russian maritime universities.

GM&T’s Shipping unit provided technical and commercial advisory to Gazprom during the development of the FSRU’s technical specifications and the negotiation of the shipbuilding contract with HHI.

Now it will be providing technical expertise and supervising the full cycle of the shipbuilding process, including the detailed design, construction, commissioning and delivery of FSRU.

It will also provide advice on the selection of technology, with a specific emphasis on LNG ship-to-ship transfers, ice and cold temperature operations and small scale LNG solutions.