PGNiG Supply & Trading (PST), part of the PGNiG Group, has signed charters for four more LNG carriers, according to the company's press release. Two of them will be delivered by companies of the Norwegian Knutsen Group and the other two by affiliates of Maran Gas Maritime, the LNG arm of Angelicoussis Group. Similarly to the LNG carriers previously ordered by PGNiG, each of the new vessels will have tanks with a capacity of approximately 174 thousand cubic metres, which means they will be able to carry cargoes equivalent to ca. 100 million cubic metres of regasified LNG. PST will use them for a period of ten years on an exclusive basis, with an extension option. As under the previous charter contracts, the shipowner will be responsible for delivering, manning and keeping the vessels in good technical condition, whereas commercial control will lie with PST. Adding the previously chartered carriers, the PGNiG Group’s new LNG fleet will consist of eight vessels. The first two LNG carriers will start to operate already next year.
In early 2023, the “Lech Kaczyński” will begin its first journey. The making of its hull in a dry dock is nearing completion. Most sections of the vessel have already been fabricated and put together. Reinforcing, metalwork and outfitting have begun. In March, the propellers as well as the main and auxiliary engines were installed. The making of individual parts of the hull of the “Grażyna Gęsicka” has also begun. The outfitting of individual blocks, which will later be assembled in a dry dock, is under way. As regards the vessel’s components, the main and auxiliary engines have been tested in the manufacturers’ workshops.
‘The volume of regasified LNG contracted by PGNiG from the United States is currently about 9 billion cubic metres per year, including as much as 7 billion cubic metres under FOB contracts, where PGNiG is responsible for collecting, transporting and unloading LNG cargoes at the destination port. Under the charter contracts, we will be able to efficiently supply liquefied natural gas to the Polish market, but also send the LNG carriers to any LNG terminal in the world,’ said Paweł Majewski, President of the PGNiG Management Board. ‘For us, the enlarged fleet and flexible transport capacities are the key to LNG-based energy security.’
PGNiG has also chartered three already built LNG carriers, each with a capacity of approximately 160 thousand cubic metres, equivalent to about 80–90 million cubic metres of regasified LNG. Two of these vessels will be delivered to the Company by the end of the first half of 2022, while the third one is to be made available in the second half of the year. This means that PGNiG will be able to purchase LNG under FOB contracts already in 2022.