Woodside christens Australia’s first LNG-fueled PSV

Australian Energy company Woodside christened its first LNG-powered platform supply vessel on Monday.

The dual-fuel Siem Thiima vessel, owned by Norway’s Siem Offshore, has been hired by Woodside on a five-year contract.

According to West Australian, the christening marks an early step towards Woodside’s larger goal of being a leader in the clean-fuel ships segment. The vessel has been working in Australia for a month already, supplying offshore installations with goods, the newspaper said.

Built in Gdansk, Poland, Siem Thiima was delivered to Siem Offshore in November 2016.

The vessel is a Dual Fuel (LNG/MGO) PSV of VS4411 design, which is Siem Offshore’s third vessel of the same design. The other two are Siem Symphony and Siem Pride.

Apart from being the first such vessel operating in Australia, the Siem Thiima also made history last month as it was a part of the first commercial bunkering operation undertaken by Wesfarmers’ EVOL LNG in the state’s north‐west.

EVOL LNG refuelled the platform supply vessel, Siem Thiima, on 23 January at King Bay Supply Base near Dampier.
Business Manager, Nick Rea sees it as just the beginning;” “Our decision to enter the LNG bunkering market is part of a long‐term strategy that recognizes environmental and economic sustainability of LNG as a transport fuel.”

“With growing demand for lower emission fuels over the past decade, we’ve seen the number of LNG‐ fuelled ships in operation worldwide increase steadily from a handful to more than 75, with an additional 80 expected to be built in the next three years.”