Keppel Offshore & Marine’s unit, Keppel Singmarine secured a contract worth a total of S$103 million ($74.2 m) to build two LNG carrier vessels for Stolt-Nielsen Gas, a unit of Stolt-Nielsen.
As part of the contract, Keppel Singmarine has also secured options to build another three similar units for Stolt-Nielsen Gas. The latter has 6, 12 and 18 months from the effective date of the contract to exercise the options respectively, Keppel said in its statement on Wednesday.
Keppel Sigmarine’s managing director, Abu Bakar, said the shipyard has already “repaired a number of vessels for Stolt Tankers previously” and the two small-scale LNG carriers extend the cooperation between the two companies.
The LNG carriers are expected to be completed in the second and third quarter and of 2019 respectively.
They will each have a capacity of 7,500 cubic meters and come equipped with engines that can run on both diesel and LNG.
The carriers will have a class notation for bunkering which adds to their versatility to not only transport but also provide LNG bunkering services if required.
Stolt-Nielsen’s current projects include plans an LNG terminal and distribution facility in the port of Oristano, Sardinia, and a venture to provide LNG to areas of Scotland not served by the existing natural-gas grid.
The newbuildings would be deployed, at least in part, in the supply chains serving these projects, according to Stolt-Nielsen.
1 SGD = 0.720046 USD