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The sheikhdom of Qatar celebrated two important milestones in its export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) last December. Qatargas delivered its first ever cargo of LNG to Canada with the arrival on Dec 1 of the Q-Flex class LNG carrier Mesaimeer, 100,800dwt at the Canaport LNG Terminal, St John, NB.

Alaa Abujbara, Qatargas marketing director, said; “The Mesaimeer began her voyage from Ras Laffan on Nov 8 with a cargo of LNG the equivalent of around 5bn cu ft of natural gas. She covered the 15,000 km in 22 days.”

“Not only is this the first LNG ship from Qatar to call in Canada, but the Q-Flex is the first LNG super tanker to arrive on North America’s East Coast,” said Phil Ribbeck, President of Repsol Energy North America. Repsol YPF and Fort Reliance form the Canaport LNG Ltd Partnership.

Blaine Higgs, of Fort Reliance, said: “The Canaport LNG Terminal is among the very few terminals in the world that can accept a ship of the Q-Max and Q-Flex’s size. This marks a new era for our region.”

The Mesaimeer was the 10th ship handled at the terminal since its commissioning on June 22 last year. The terminal has received LNG from Trinidad and Tobago, Egypt, and now Qatar. The terminal has the capacity to send up to 1bn cu ft of LNG a day to markets in Canada and North-Eastern US.

The first of Qatargas’s Q-Max class LNG carriers to cross the Atlantic was due to arrive in the United States at the end of December.

The Umm Slal, 125,600dwt, sailed from the port of Ras Laffan on Dec 5 with 240,000cu m of LNG, and was due to reach the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana on New Year’s Eve.

The Q-Flex and the even larger Q-Max ships, purpose-built for owner Nakilat, are a new generation of LNG carriers.

The Q-Max and Q-Flex respectively have 80 per cent and 50 per cent more capacity than conventional LNG carriers whilst consuming about 40 per cent less energy due to the small size and the efficiency of their two slow speed diesel engines.

More on this and other news in Sea Breezes Magazine - February 2010 Issue
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