IMSK - I.M. SKAUGEN NAMES FIRST VESSEL IN INNOVATIVE MULTIGAS SERIES
(Thomson Reuters ONE) - The I.M. Skaugen Group (IMSK) yesterday named the first ship in itsnew series of Multigas carriers, the Norgas Innovation, in a ceremonyat the Skaugen JV Shenghui Gas & Chemical Systems' facilities inZhangjiagang, north of Shanghai, China.At the ceremony, Morits Skaugen, CEO of I.M. Skaugen, stated: "Thisis an important day for everybody at the company and especially forthose concerned in the development of these highly advanced gascarriers. We have been responsible for all elements in this project- from initial design right through to construction. The vessel isbuilt at our joint venture facilities in China - and I am delightedthat the first of these unique and highly specialized gas carrierswill soon be demonstrating first-hand why we decided to constructsuch an innovative, industry-leading ship."The 10,000 cbm sized vessel, named "Norgas Innovation", willinitially enter the fleet of Norgas Carriers, the I.M. Skaugencompany involved in the maritime transportation of petrochemicalgases and LPG. However, this first Multigas vessel will, in thesecond half of 2010, be dedicated to Nordic LNG (www.nordiclng.com)and their Mini LNG business in Scandinavia.Nordic LNG - a joint venture between Lyse and I.M. Skaugen - willsupply natural gas to 'stranded' customers who do not have access topipeline networks. The Multigas vessel will be used to transport theLNG directly industrial to end-users as well as to Nordic LNG's ownhub terminals for onward distribution. End user markets include alsothe maritime fuel market, where LNG will replace bunker oils.Small-scale LNG will enable industrial users and power plants inthese stranded markets to switch from oil based processes and powergeneration to more cost efficient gas and with a significantreduction of CO2 and other emissions. The environmental impact ofswitching to gas are indisputable; 25-30% less CO2 emission, 80% lessNOx and 100% reduction of both SOx and particulate matters.Environmental benefits would also be gained in maritime bunkermarkets. As legislation covering the shipping industry becomestighter, emissions of sulphur dioxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx)must be reduced and, eventually, this will also apply to CO2.The long term future of heavy fuel oil as bunkers is questionable,both in terms of dependency on oil and not at least with regards toemissions. Natural gas in contrast gives a far more environmentallyfriendly combustion and in addition there appear to be greaterreserves available than oil. Thus natural gas in liquid form (LNG) asmarine bunkers has the potential to be the solution for the shippingindustry to cope with its emission challenges in the years to come.By running their vessels on LNG ship owners will be able to solvetheir emission problems at the source and avoid the need forauxiliary equipment such as scrubbers and selective catalyticreduction (SCR) units.To make LNG a real alternative to traditional fuel oil and diesel oilbunkers, a suitable infrastructure has to be developed. This meansthat LNG has to be shipped from either LNG liquefaction plants ortraditional LNG import terminals to smaller regional hubs. There,LNG-fueled ships can bunker either directly or from smaller LNGbunker vessels serving the hub. Our Multigas carriers are ideallysuited to this 'breaking-bulk' LNG depot supply activity.During a year in LNG trade Norgas Innovation would contribute a netreduction of CO2 emissions with more than 300.000 tons of CO2 - byproviding the LNG that allows customers to switch to natural gas.This means during her life time - Norgas Innovation will reduce CO2emissions with more than 7 million tons of CO2.The flexibility inherent in the cargo-handling system enables theMultigas ships to move between the LNG, LPG and petrochemical gastrades as commercial circumstances dictate, However, it is theability to handle LNG at cryogenic temperatures which makes theseships particularly notable. Skaugen is poised to play a pioneeringrole in the local and regional distribution of LNG at a time when theglobal LNG trade is growing strongly and the natural gas supply chainis being extended to provide remote communities with access to thisclean-burning fossil fuel for the first time. Interest in both theMini LNG concept and our Multigas newbuilding programme has grownstrongly in recent years and we have no doubt that these vessels havea bright future in serving regional LNG distribution markets.The vessel is scheduled to be delivered to its owners, a Singaporebased company called Singco Gas Pte Ltd, a 50/50 joint venturebetween GATX Corporation (www.gatx.com) and by I.M. Skaugen MarineServices Pte Ltd, a 100% owned subsidiary of Norway-based I.M.Skaugen SE (www.skaugen.com) by end of this year/early January 2010.Flying Singaporean flag, the vessel will be operated by NorgasCarriers AS.I.M. Skaugen joined forces with GATX in year 2000 for the jointconstruction and joint ownership of the six "Somargas" Ethylenecarriers (four 8,600 cbm size and two 10,200 cbm size) built by I.M.Skaugen in China and delivered in 2002 and 2003. GATX is a leader inleasing transportation assets and controls one of the largest railcarfleets in the world. Applying over a century of operating experienceand strong market and asset expertise, GATX provides quality assetsand services to customers worldwide.The company has so far in total six (4 x 10,000 cbm + 2 x 12,000 cbm)such ships under construction through Skaugen Marine Construction,the division within I.M. Skaugen that manages its newbuildingactivities in China. The delivery of these six vessels will becompleted over the next two years, but the longer-term plan is tobuild at least 10 of these Multigas carriers.The Multigas ships are built to the classic semi-pressurized/fullyrefrigerated (semi-ref) gas carrier design. In addition to LNG, thevessels are able to carry a wide range of other liquefied gascargoes, including ethylene, LPG and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM).Irrespective of the liquefied gas being carried, cargo boil-off gason the Multigas ships will be reliquefied by specialist equipmentonboard and returned to the cargo tanks. When LNG is being carried,an innovative Mini LNG plant will be utilized to reliquefy allnatural gas boil-off. The Mini LNG plant's patented and licensedtechnology was developed by Skaugen in cooperation with SINTEF EnergyResearch in Norway.For all enquiries, please contact:Bente Flø, Chief Financial Officer: +47 23 12 03 30 / +47 91 64 56 08bente.flo(at)skaugen.comThis press release is also available on the Internet at our website:http://www.skaugen.comAbout I.M. SkaugenListed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker code IMSK, I.M.Skaugen SE (IMS) is a marine transportation service company engagedin the hassle-free transportation of petrochemical gases LPG and LNG,marine transfer of crude oil and LNG, and the design and constructionof smaller, specialised high quality vessels.IMS is a fully-integrated shipping company that designs, builds,owns, mans and manages its own ships. IMS customers are majorinternational companies in the oil and petrochemical industry, whomit serves worldwide from locations in Bahrain, Freeport and Houston(USA), Oslo and Stavanger (Norway), Singapore, Sunderland (UK) andNanjing, Shanghai, Taizhou, Zhangjiagang and Wuhan (China). We alsooperate recruitment and training programmes in St. Petersburg(Russia) and Wuhan (China) for the crewing of vessels.IMS employs approximately 1,700 people and currently operates about35 vessels worldwide. The fleet comprises petrochemical gas and LPGcarriers, Aframax tankers and lightering support vessels, barges andtugs.IMS has a comprehensive newbuilding programme in China, of whichthree 3,200cbm LPG vessels are delivered and sold; threepurpose-designed combination carriers with LPG/Ethylene/VCM andOrganic chemicals carrying capability; and up to ten advanced10,000-12,000cbm LNG/ LPG/Ethylene gas carriers, with delivery from2009 onwards. IMS has invested and built up internal resources andinfrastructure in China to ensure innovative and flexible vessels atlower cost.http://hugin.info/179/R/1355152/328848.pdfThis announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Datum: 16.11.2009 - 08:26 Uhr
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