LNG tanker arrives in Malta

The LNG tanker that will supply gas to the new power plant in Delimara reached Maltese territorial waters from Singapore this afternoon and is due to enter Marsaxlokk Bay tomorrow morning.

In a statement, ElectroGas Malta, the consortium behind the power station, said that the Armada LNG Mediterrana, had reached Maltese waters slightly ahead of schedule, and is now undergoing all standard preparations.

The tanker, which will be providing liquefied natural gas to the new power station at Delimara, 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.

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.