PGNiG Supply & Trading has signed into an agreement for the charter of 4 new LNG tankers, constructed for the needs of the PGNiG Group, which will enter service in 2025.

Two of them will be provided by companies from the Norwegian Knutsen group, and the rest by Maran Gas Maritime. Each of the vessels will have tanks with a capacity of approximately 174,000 m3 cubic meters, similar to the other gas carriers ordered by PGNiG, which means that each ship will be able to transport the cargo of approximately 100 million cubic meters of gas after the regasification of LNG.

PGNiG Supply & Trading will be their exclusive user for 10 years with the possibility of extension. Together with the previous charter, the fleet of newly built LNG carriers at the disposal of PGNiG will increase to 8 vessels. The first two gas carriers will start operating next year.

At the beginning of 2023, the ship “Lech Kaczyński” will set off on its first voyage. The construction of its hull in a dry dock is nearing its completion. The completion of individual parts of the hull of the “Grażyna Gęsicka” ship has also begun.

“In the PGNiG import portfolio, the volume of contracts for American LNG currently amounts to approx. 9 billion cubic meters annually after regasification. As much as 7 billion cubic meters will be received under the contracts concluded with the Free On Board (FOB) commercial formula. According to it, PGNiG is responsible for the collection of LNG from the supplier, transport and unloading it at the destination port. Charter of methane carriers will allow us not only to efficiently deliver liquefied natural gas to the domestic market but also to direct the ship to any LNG terminal in the world”, said Paweł Majewski, President of the PGNiG Management Board. “Such an extensive fleet and flexibility of transport capacity are the key to energy security based on LNG”, added Majewski.

Adrian Andrzejewski