Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (MOL) and Royal Vopak (Vopak) announce an agreement has been reached, whereby Vopak will acquire 49.99% of the shares in the vessel owning company of MOL FSRU Challenger, whose name will be changed to Bauhinia Spirit. This new joint venture company between MOL and Vopak in Hong Kong will own the world’s largest floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and have a long-term contract with Hong Kong LNG Terminal Limited 1.
The FSRU has a storage and regasification capacity of 263,000 cbm and 800 mmscfd, respectively. Under the contract, the joint venture will provide the FSRU as well as jetty operations & maintenance, and port services.
The offshore jetty platform for the mooring of the FSRU and LNG carriers are owned by Hong Kong LNG Terminal Limited. The terminal is currently under construction and is expected to be operational around mid-2022. The terminal will be located offshore about 25 km southwest of Hong Kong Island. The terminal 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.