[WATCH] LNG tanker set to arrive in Malta tomorrow

Armada LNG Mediterrana on its ocean journey to Malta

The tanker which will be providing liquefied natural gas to the new power station at Delimara is set to arrive in Malta tomorrow.

Electrogas Malta, the consortium behind the power station, said that the Armada LNG Mediterrana will initially be anchored in an offshore location area south-east of Malta known as Hurd’s Bank and will be bunkering there overnight.

The vessel will then notify the authorities of the Port of Marsaxlokk about a suitable window to proceed to the pilot station on Monday and then enter the bay for sea trials, before temporarily departing the port for a few days to “carry out further familiarization and security tests”.

The procedure will be coordinated by the port authorities, the Electrogas consortium that has been entrusted with the operation of the power station and the Malaysuan oil field services firm Bumi Armada that has provided the consortium with the tanker.

The tanker has a gross tonnage of 125,000 tonnes and is designated as a Tanker – Hazard A (Major) vessel type. It was built by Bumi Armada at Keppel Shipyards in Singapore in a process that involved 1.5 million working hours.

According to the Office of the Prime Minister, the conversion job has been lauded by experts who explained that the FSU has the highest levels of security standards and will provide a temporary, yet reliable, supply of gas.

The new gas-fired power station was originally envisaged to be completed in March 2015, but following delays, then energy minister Konrad Mizzi had said that the gas plant would be delayed by 15 months and be completed in June 2016.

However, a delay in the conversion of the LNG tanker meant that the second deadline had to be missed.

The government has stated that the LNG tanker would be used for a limited time until Malta has its gas pipeline with Italy in place.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said that the country had been in a desperate need for a reform in the energy sector when his government took over in 2013.

“This will be the project which will not only complete the turnaround of Malta’s energy sector, but which will be also ensuring that our electricity prices remain low and sustainable; that our electricity supply, at the periphery of the European continent, remains secure, and which meets the ever-growing electricity demand which reflects an ever-growing and strong Maltese economy,” Muscat said during a sail-away ceremony of the tanker in Singapore in August.

However, the Nationalist Party has warned that the tanker will come with its health and safety problems and has frequently dubbed it a “monument of corruption”.

Earlier today, the PN filed a complaint with the Broadcasting Authority over a promotional video of the LNG tanker that is being aired on TVM.

“The national broadcaster is airing a political advert to defend this monument of corruption. This advert is not only politically controversial, but contains lies that are intended to deceive the public about the tanker that Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri will be docking only a few metres away from a town in which thousands of Maltese families live and work,” PN MP Clyde Puli said in a statement.