Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL)(www.mol.co.jp), having entered into a long-term charter party agreement with subsidiaries of El Paso Corporation, a major U.S. energy company, announced that MOL has decided to participate in the EP Energy Bridge™, a new ship-based liquefied natural gas regasification system designed and developed by El Paso Global LNG. MOL, together with EXMAR (www.exmar.be) Belgian CMB’s gas tanker division, has ordered four LNG carriers with its tank capacity at 138,000 cubic meters from a Korean shipyard, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, and three out of the four LNG carriers are to be converted the EP Energy Bridge™ vessels. Deliveries of the Energy Bridge vessels will start in 2004.
The EP Energy Bridge™ ships can regasify and deliver up to 400 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. An EP Energy BridgeTM ship connects to pipeline infrastructure through an offshore buoy and turret system that has been used worldwide, including approximately 10 years of service in the harsh weather environment of the North Sea. As the LNG ship arrives at the unloading site, the buoy is pulled into a receiving cone and connected to the ship. The LNG is then regasified aboard the ship and the vaporized LNG is discharged through the buoy into the sub-sea pipeline system.
For continuous flow of natural gas, a typical EP Energy Bridge™ system will have two offloading buoys to ensure uninterrupted delivery. El Paso anticipates the initial EP Energy Bridge™ sites will be in the Gulf of Mexico and along the U.S. East coast. This new technology is viewed as enhancing the flexibility of the LNG carriers within the original hull design whilst retaining the ability to act as conventional LNG carriers.
Exmar is the gas transportation operating company of CMB (Compagnie Maritime Belge) (www.cmb.be) which is the largest Belgian shipping group, quoted on the Belgian Stock Exchange. Exmar is one of the largest independent operators of gas tankers in the world commercially controlling a diversified fleet of 50 ships ranging from 138,000 cubic meters LNG carriers down to 1,600 cubic meters pressurized LPG carriers. Of these 8 are LNG carriers.
For further information, please contact:
Takami Watanabe
Deputy General Manager, LNG Carrier Division (B)
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.
Tel. 81-3-3587-6622 Fax: 81-3-3587-7748