Page 11 - AsianOil Week 24

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DSME union prevents HHI site inspection
GASA
Classi cation society DNV GL has given its general approval for ship application (GASA) for DSME’s Solidus LNG cargo containment system.
The Solidus system uses high-per- formance insulation material, which is wrapped in two metallic barriers, to lower LNG boil-o rates in carriers. DSME devel- oped the insulation material in co-opera- tion with Germany’s BASF.
e GASA follows DSME and DNV GL’s framework agreement to co-operate on new o shore safety and e ciency projects. e two organisations will study 3D model hull approvals, estimate allowable wave heights for a 174,000 cm oating storage and regasi - cation unit (FSRU) as well as carry out a struc- tural safety assessment of Solidus.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT
SOUTH Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Ship- building & Marine Engineering’s (DSME) union workers have prevented Hyundai Heavy Indus- tries (HHI) from completing a pre-takeover on-site inspection.
HHI had intended to complete to its inspec- tion of DSME’s Okpo shipyard in Geoje City by June 14, but was stopped from doing so when workers barred access to the site.
In March, HHI signed a deal worth an esti- mated 2 trillion won ($1.69bn) with state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) to buy its 55.7% stake in DSME.
Under the deal, which followed a condi- tional agreement reached in January, KDB agreed to transfer its common stock to HHI’s newly created sub-holding company – Korea Shipbuilding & O shore Engineering (KSOE). A reorganised HHI will carry on operating its existing shipbuilding and offshore business interests. In return, KDB will receive 1.25 tril- lion won (US$1.05bn) worth of shares and will also reportedly consider providing DSME with 1 trillion won (US$843.5m) in nancial support.
HHI will also contribute around 2.5 trillion won (US$2.11bn) to the KSOE, which will own 68% of DSME and will pay o its debts.
Both shipyards’ unions have strongly opposed the merger, however, arguing that it will lead to job cuts and a deterioration in working conditions.
Still, there is no guarantee that the deal in its current shape will be approved by anti-trust regulators in China, the European Union and
Japan. Tokyo’s concerns are believed to lie with the combined company’s order book for LNG carriers – around half of the global total – while Beijing has already expressed its concerns over the level of state support KDB has already pro- vided DSME.
As a result, HHI is focusing on a review of its future business structure and is expected to sub- mit a combined declaration to the South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in July. HHI is also reportedly planning to submit the report to Chinese, EU and Japanese authorities.™
AUSTRALASIA
Kyushu Electric joins small-scale FLNG study
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
JAPAN’S Kyushu Electric Power has agreed to back a study on the use of oating lique ed natural gas (FLNG) vessels at remote elds o shore Australia.
e study is being conducted by a consortium that is led by Transborders Energy and also includes TechnipFMC and Norway’s Add Energy. The group wants to tap stranded gas elds with between 500 bn cubic feet (cf) (14.16bn cubic metres) and 2 trillion cf (56.64bn cm) of reserves. It is aiming to complete both preliminary design work on small- scale FLNG as well as talks with eld owners by the end of this year.
Transborders Energy’s managing director, Daein Cha, said on June 16 that the partners
hoped to enter rst production by mid-2026 at the earliest. He added that capital costs were pro- jected at around A$1.6bn ($1.1bn).
Cha added that Kyushu Electric’s join- ing the project could see it become an LNG o aker. He said the Japanese rm could also
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