Al Dafna at Port of Zeebrugge

Zeebrugge LNG Terminal Handles Its First Ever Q-Max LNG Carrier

The 2009-built LNG carrier Al Dafna set a new record for the Belgian Zeebrugge LNG terminal as it became the first ever Q-Max vessel to call at the facility.

Image Courtesy: Fluxys Belgium - P. Henderyckx

The ship loaded cargo at the Ras Laffan terminal in Qatar on June 22 and arrived in Belgium a month later, on July 22.

Al Dafna carried out a multi-terminal delivery with the first LNG parcel being discharged in Zeebrugge and a second parcel at the South Hook LNG terminal in the UK, according to the vessel operator, Qatargas.

The 266,000 cbm carrier is owned by Qatari shipping giant Nakilat and belongs to the class of world’s largest LNG carriers.

“We are particularly pleased at Fluxys with this new milestone in our long-standing cooperation with Qatargas at the Zeebrugge LNG terminal,” Pascal De Buck, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of gas infrastructure group Fluxys, owner and operator of the Zeebrugge LNG terminal, said.

Al Dafna arrived at the Fluxys-operated Zeebrugge liquefied natural gas terminal a day after Q-Flex LNG carrier Al Karaana, another Nakilat-owned vessel, delivered cargo at the port.

The Zeebrugge terminal has an annual throughput capacity of nine billion cbm of natural gas and mainly imports LNG from Qatar.