Armada-Lng-Mediterrana

LNG tanker MV Armada Mediterrana will initially be berthed offshore. The LNG tanker that will supply gas to the new power plant in Delimara is due to reach Maltese territorial waters from Singapore this evening and is expected to enter Marsaxlokk Bay tomorrow morning. However, it won’t be possible yet for the ship to stay in port, as more work needs to be done on its anchorage system and it must undergo further tests. In a statement issued yesterday, Electrogas Malta, the power station operator, said that on arrival the Armada LNG Mediterrana will be berthed in an offshore location at Hurd’s Bank and will likely be bunkering overnight. More at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20161008/local/gas-storage-tanker-arrives-in-malta-tomorrow.627348

The LNG tanker Armada LNG Mediterrana – or floating storage unit that will be permanently berthed at Marsaxlokk has finally left Singapore harbour, reports Malta Independent. The ship is currently making 9 knots and is heading towards the port of Galle in Sri Lanka, where it is expected to arrive on 18 September. Its arrival date in Malta is not yet known. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Minister-without-portfolio Konrad Mizzi travelled to Singapore last month to dispatch the ship but the vessel’s departure was delayed for unknown reasons. The tanker is an essential part of the new gas-fired power station, as it will supply LNG to the onshore regassificator. This will, in turn, feed gas to the new power station being built by Electrogas and the BWSC plant that is being converted by its Chinese owners to work on gas. This is the first part of 5,900km journey across the Arabian Sea, before travelling up the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to enter the Mediterranean before heading west to Malta. http://www.marinelink.com/news/singapore-tanker-leaves415335.aspx

Studies promised to the Planning Authority more than two years ago on the LNG floating storage unit to be based in Marsaxlokk Bay have yet to be published, the Times of Malta is informed. Sources close to the private consortium building the new gas-fired power station told this newspaper no information had been made available yet on a maritime risk assessment in connection with having a big vessel berthed permanently in the area. The Prime Minister will be flying to Singapore where the Armada LNG Mediterrana, the vessel that will serve as permanent storage for the power station, is undergoing a conversion job, now nearing its completion. During a meeting of then Malta environment and planning authority in March 2014, which had approved the development permit of the new gas-fired power project in Delimara, Enemalta’s environmental impact assessment consultant, Paul Gauci, had said that while initial maritime traffic studies were based on already available information, a full maritime impact assessment had still to be carried out. However, sources close to the project noted yesterday there were no signs of any such studies, which would allay concerns about the manoeuvrability of other ships in view of the fact that they would be close to the permanent LNG facility. http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20160730/local/no-maritime-risk-studies-yet-on-lng-vessel.620412