Chinese shipyard CIMC Raffles is preparing to begin the conversion of Golar LNG's LNG carrier Grace Dahlia into a floating liquefied natural gas vessel, with the work now set to start following the arrival of the ship at the yard. The project marks the second FLNG conversion job that Golar has placed with the Chinese yard.
The Grace Dahlia is a carrier with a cargo capacity of 177,427 cubic meters. Under the conversion plan, the vessel will be turned into an MKII FLNG unit with a liquefaction capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per annum. The arrival of the carrier at the facility signals that the yard is ready to commence the modification work.
For Golar, the project extends an existing relationship with CIMC Raffles in the FLNG segment. Converting an existing LNG carrier into a floating liquefaction unit is an established route for adding liquefaction capacity, and this is the second time the owner has chosen the Chinese yard for such a job, indicating a continued reliance on the facility for this type of work.
The start of the conversion is a step forward for the MKII FLNG program and will be followed by engineers tracking the yard's progress as the carrier is transformed into a liquefaction unit. Once complete, the vessel is designed to process 3.5 mtpa of gas, a capacity figure that places the unit among the floating liquefaction projects now being developed for offshore gas resources. The work at the Chinese yard adds to the growing activity in ship-to-FLNG conversions, a segment where existing LNG carriers are given a second life as production assets rather than being scrapped.
Source: LNG Prime
