BW’s FSRU gearing up to serve First Gen’s Batangas LNG terminal

BW Batangas, a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) owned by BW LNG, is getting ready to start its deployment with First Gen Corporation’s Batangas LNG import terminal in the Philippines.

According to a social media update from BW LNG, a unit of the Singapore-based gas shipping giant BW Group, the FSRU BW Batangas, previously called BW Paris, is currently undergoing modifications at MMHE Shipyard in Johor, Malaysia, with the delivery expected around the end of Q2 or at the beginning of Q3 this year.

The modifications are being made ahead of the FSRU’s deployment with First Gen’s Batangas LNG terminal where she will be chartered for up to ten years.

To remind, BW LNG and the Philippines’ utility signed the FSRU charter deal in 2021. Prior to this, the conversion of the chartered unit from LNG carrier to FSRU was completed at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore.

The vessel has a storage capacity of up to 162,400 cubic metres of chilled fuel and a regasification capacity of 550 million metric standard cubic feet of natural gas per day.

First Gen, in partnership with Tokyo Gas, is developing the Interim Offshore LNG Terminal that will be built at the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City, Philippines.

Dallas-based engineer Jacobs was contracted as owner’s engineer for the LNG project while Svitzer, a Danish towage provider and Maersk subsidiary, will supply and operate four new heavy-duty tugboats that will manage the arrival and departure of the FSRU and LNG carriers.

The project is expected to play a critical role in opening LNG imports to the Philippines as indigenous sources such as the Malampaya gas field could be depleted by 2027.