January 10, 2022 [LNGJournal] – Vopak is to acquire 49.99% of the shares in the vessel owning company of ‘MOL FSRU Challenger’, which will be renamed ‘Bauhinia Spirit’.

This new joint venture company, involving Vopak and Mitsui OSK (MOL), will own the world’s largest FSRU, which will be operated on a long-term contract to Hong Kong LNG Terminal Limited. The FSRU has a storage and regasification capacity of 263,000 cu m and 800 mmscfd, respectively.

Under the terms of the contract, the joint venture will provide the FSRU, plus the jetty operations and maintenance and port services.

An offshore jetty platform for the FSRU and the LNGCs delivering gas, currently under construction, is owned by the terminal company. It is expected to be operational around the middle of this year.

The terminal will be located offshore about 25 km southwest of Hong Kong Island and will provide natural gas feedstock to the customer’s dedicated power plants.

It is being developed to support the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government’s target to improve air quality and environmental conditions by increasing the percentage of power generation by natural gas.

“An ideal complementary relationship works by combining Vopak’s many years of experience as a terminal operator for oils, chemicals and liquefied gas with MOL’s know-how of LNG carrier and FSRU operation. MOL looks forward to further working with Vopak on this promising project.

“Hong Kong LNG Terminal Limited is a joint venture between the two utility companies in Hong Kong, the Castle Peak Power Company Limited (CAPCO) and The Hongkong Electric Company, Limited. CAPCO is a joint venture between CLP Power Hong Kong Limited and China Southern Power Grid International (HK) Co. Limited and feels confident that with our joint forces, we will be able to establish a safe and reliable operation structure for the Hong Kong FSRU project,” said Takeshi Hashimoto, MOL President & CEO.

Eelco Hoekstra, Vopak’s Chairman of the Executive Board & CEO, added “We very much look forward to further strengthening our partnership with MOL and to actively contribute together to the energy transition policy of the government in Hong Kong. This co-operation gives Vopak an excellent entry in the growing LNG market in Hong Kong and fits our ambition to diversify our service offering in LNG by investing in FSRUs.”

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