Seatrium wins ninth Karpowership FSRU conversion

Karpowership affiliate Kinetics Energies will convert a 20-year-old LNG carrier into a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) at Seatrium’s Singapore yard, extending a conversion programme that has produced seven units since 2018.

Seatrium has secured a ninth LNG carrier-to-FSRU conversion from Karpowership, with work on the eighth unit already scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027.

The new vessel in the conversion programme pipeline is the former Arctic Voyager, a 2006-built Moss-type LNG carrier acquired by Kinetics Energies, a Karpowership affiliate, for US$28.5M in August. The vessel was previously owned by a K Line affiliate and has since been renamed LNGT Akdeniz.

Seatrium’s scope covers engineering, conversion, integration, installation and commissioning of regasification equipment and associated systems.

The converted FSRU will have LNG storage capacity of about 143,000 m³ and, according to Kinetics, is designed for regasification flow of up to 650M standard cubic feet per day. Delivery is planned for the third quarter of 2028.

It follows the LNGT Karadeniz conversion, which is already underway and is being developed as the second unit in Karpowership’s next-generation FSRU series.

The latest award is the second project to materialise from a letter of intent (LoI0 signed by the companies in 2025, covering three FSRU conversions. That agreement also included potential integration of up to six new-generation Powerships.

Kinetics is expected to have 12 LNG assets once LNGT Akdeniz joins its fleet, according to Seatrium.

Karpowership partnership

Seven LNG carriers have previously been converted to FSRUs by Seatrium under a partnership with Karpowership, including the FSRU LNGT Türkiye on 23 September. Previously, the Singapore marine engineering firm converted LNGT Africa, LNGT Asia, LNGT Europe, LNGT Antarctica, LNGT Americas, and LNGT Oceania for Karpowership. Last year, the parties signed a letter of intent (LOI) covering the conversion of three LNG carriers into FSRUs, one of which has since materialised into a contract award for the LNGT Karadeniz conversion project. The LOI also includes the potential integration of up to six new-generation Powerships. Conversion work is underway on LNGT Karadeniz, a flagship project developed under Karpowership’s Kinetics initiative. Engineered to deliver up to 600 mmscfd of regasification capacity across multi-pressure send-out systems, LNGT Karadeniz represents the next generation of high-capacity floating gas infrastructure, according to Karpowership.

The LNG carrier-to-FSRU conversion programme involves complex cryogenic, marine, and gas-handling systems integration works.