LNG Carrier Loses Power, Unable to Leave Terminal
Shipments of LNG from Australia Pacific LNG have come to a halt after a loaded tanker docked at the site lost power, operator ConocoPhillips and co-owner Origin Energy said on Tuesday.
So far two LNG cargoes have been delayed, and Origin warned "it expected that more LNG cargoes will be deferred", as the stricken vessel was blocking other tankers from entering the facility on Curtis Island off Australia's east coast.
APLNG, which has a capacity of 9 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG, can only take one vessel at a time and on average loads one tanker every three days.
Its two main customers are China's Sinopec and Japan's Kansai Electric.
Vessel-tracking data showed the disabled tanker is the Cesi Qingdao, which was due to go to Wenzhou in China.
China Energy Ship Management, which manages the Cesi Qingdao, confirmed that the vessel experienced a propulsion failure while it was alongside at APLNG on November 22, said a company spokesperson.
"The vessel remains safely alongside and repair work is underway," the spokesperson said. "The root cause of the incident is unknown and will be fully investigated."
China Energy Ship Management, ConocoPhillips and Origin did not say who owned the cargo on the tanker.
Three other vessels, LNG Abuja II, Cesi Lianyungang and Cesi Tianjin are scheduled to arrive at APLNG before departing for China, according to shiptracking data from Kpler. Shiptracking data on LSEG Eikon shows the vessels are currently waiting off Curtis Island.
"We have been working with the ship captain and management, local and federal regulators, and the customer to respond to this event," a spokesperson for ConocoPhillips Australia said.
Plans are in place to best manage the supply through the APLNG facility while the situation is being resolved - including deferring cargoes as required, the spokesperson said.
The total number of cargoes which could be deferred will depend on when the situation resolves, Origin said.
Origin reduced gas flow to the APLNG site and said it would shift more gas into the Australian east coast market.
APLNG is a joint venture between ConocoPhillips, Origin Energy, and Sinopec. Origin, Australia's biggest energy retailer, operates APLNG's gas fields, while ConocoPhillips operates the export facility and export sales.
Sinopec did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shares in Origin, which is subject to a $10.6 billion takeover offer led by Canada's Brookfield, fell 0.7% on Tuesday, in a broader market that was up 0.4%.
(Reuters - Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Ayushman Ojha, Roushni Nair, Andrew Hayley in Beijing and Emily Chow in Singapore; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sonali Paul)
