MOL tapped to be shipowner for newbuild FSRU in Poland

The new terminal, pending final approvals, will be located in the Gulf of Gdańsk in the southeastern Baltic Sea, offshore from the Polish port city that shares the Gulf’s name.

With a commissioning completion date for the project initially set for 2027 or 2028, the exact site of the FSRU is expected to be a mooring platform located approximately 3 km from shore in the area of the Gulf of Gdańsk between the mouths of two of the Vistula River’s branches: Śmiała and Martwa. As part of the project, the necessary offshore and onshore infrastructure will also be constructed, according to MOL.

MOL will time charter the vessel back to the Polish authority under terms that have yet to be negotiated, and Gaz System will operate the future LNG terminal.

"In the near future, we will focus on developing the detailed terms of the time charter party. Further, we need to obtain all necessary corporate approvals from Gaz System’s management bodies to sign the agreement with the shipowner," Gaz System Management Board vice president Andrzej Kensbok said.

MOL’s LNG fleet is the world’s largest with almost 120 vessels including seven FSRU units. The shipowner was selected in a tender process that was narrowed to the point where, in November 2023, two shipowning organisations offered the best terms for the delivery and operation of the FSRU.

In July 2023, Gaz System completed the process of obtaining administrative approvals for all onshore pipelines to be built under the programme of construction. In August 2023, the full regasification capacity of the FSRU terminal of 6.1Bn cubic metres was booked for 15 years.

The European Commission awarded the LNG Gdańsk FSRU project up to €20M (US$22M) in grant funding for pre-investment works to secure permitting for offshore construction under the Connecting Europe monetary facility.