Page 10 - GLNG Week 01 2021

GLNG ASIA GLNG

Karnataka partners with LNG Alliance

to develop import terminal

PROJECTS & THE government of the Indian state of Karna- unit (FSRU) and manage the LNG supply for the
COMPANIES taka has partnered with Singapore’s LNG Alli- project.
ance and New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), “We see this as an important step to meet
a state port in Mangalore, to develop an LNG India’s cleaner energy goals of phasing down
import terminal. coal-fired power plants and transitioning to an
According to a January 5 statement by LNG emission-free economy using LNG as a bridg-
Alliance, the planned terminal would have an ing fuel,” stated LNG Alliance’s CEO, Muthu
initial capacity of 4mn tonnes per year, which Chezhian. “As part of this agreement, LNG Alli-
could be expanded to 8mn tpy at a later date ance will develop a tolling fee-based floating
depending on demand over the next 20 years. LNG [FLNG] import terminal, within the mar-
The facility would also have the capability to itime concession area of the NMPT. This termi-
conduct LNG bunkering. Infrastructure at the nal will also be open for third-party access and
terminal would include ISO LNG container- will provide the most competitive tolling rates in
isation and an LNG truck loading facility for India, based on the LNG sourced from our sup-
serving the industrial and transportation sec- ply partners.”
tor in addition to import and regasification The partners believe that the NMPT is ideally
capacity. positioned for downstream distribution of LNG
This would be the first dedicated LNG bun- owing to its interconnectivity with major inter-
kering facility in India if it goes ahead, and would state highways and railways.
provide LNG as fuel for ships visiting the NMPT News of the project comes as India steadily
port and bunkering shuttles to the country’s grows its regasification capacity. GlobalData
West Coast. predicted in November 2021 that India would
LNG Alliance said it intended to invest account for the second-highest regasification
around $290mn over the next three years to capacity additions in Asia between 2021 and
develop a floating storage and regasification 2025 after China.™

MOL to accelerate investment

in LNG-fuelled vessels

PIPELINES & JAPANESE shipping company Mitsui OSK pandemic, he said.
TRANSPORT Lines (MOL) said on January 5 that it would It is unsurprising that MOL’s LNG carrier
accelerate investment in LNG-fuelled vessels, as business performed strongly given that demand
well as offshore wind power, this year as it pur- for LNG has been picking up. Additionally, since
sues decarbonisation. the International Maritime Organization (IMO)
“Last year, we announced to invest in LNG- 2020 rules on sulphur content in marine fuel
fuelled car carriers and Capesize bulkers. This were brought in, there has also been a growing
year, we will not only accelerate investment in interest in LNG as a bunkering fuel.
LNG-fuelled vessels, but also invest in low-/ Hashimoto said his company was progress-
de-carbonisation businesses such as offshore ing toward the introduction of LNG-fuelled
wind power,” MOL’s CEO, Takeshi Hashimoto, vessels and had introduced a plan to expand
stated. “We will also step up initiatives to reduce the fleet to 90 vessels by 2030. He described the
our environmental impact, by adopting the dig- use of LNG-fuelled vessels as “the most effective
ital transformation and improving the vessel measure to reduce GHG emissions at the pres-
operational efficiency.” ent moment”.
According to Hashimoto, the LNG carrier MOL is targeting net-zero GHG emissions
business “brought in steadily increasing profits” from its operations by 2050, with an interme-
in 2021, while it was a tough year for the tanker diate goal of reducing emissions intensity by
business. The very large crude carrier (VLCC) around 45% by 2035 compared with 2019 levels.
market saw a downturn, and ferry and cruise The company’s environmental strategy, unveiled
ship businesses experienced a decrease in pas- last year, also includes a plan to deploy net-zero
sengers owing to the coronavirus (COVID-19) ocean-going vessels in the 2020s.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 01 07•January•2021