‘Industry first’: LPG unloading across FSRU completed at Elbehafen LNG terminal

The first unloading of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) across the deck of the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) according to the ship-to-ship principle has been completed at the Elbehafen LNG terminal in Brunsbüttel, Germany.

Höegh LNG, the owner of the FSRU Höegh Gannet which was chartered by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) to serve RWE’s newbuild LNG terminal in Brunsbüttel, revealed the new record in its social media update on 20 March.

Höegh LNG and its partners Nordsee Gas Terminal (NGT), DNV, STS Marine Solutions, RWE, Brunsbüttel Ports and Marine Services received the first-ever LPG cargo across the deck of the FSRU when the vessel Hourai Maru came alongside the Höegh Gannet at 07:00 on 18 March and completed the cargo operation and departed at 13:00 on 20 March.

The operation was completed after six months of engineering, modification and planning and is said to secure the delivery of critical energy to the Brunsbüttel region.

To remind, the FSRU Höegh Gannet arrived at Brunsbüttel’s Elbehafen port at the beginning of the year. In February, the LNG terminal’s developer RWE received the first cargo of 137,000 cubic metres of LNG shipped by ADNOC under the multi-year supply agreement signed in 2022.

Expected to become operational from the end of this month, the Elbehafen LNG terminal in Brunsbüttel will be Germany’s third FSRU-based terminal following those in Wilhelmshaven and Lubmin.

The state-chartered FSRUs will be operated by the recently launched Deutsche Energy Terminal GmbH (DET), a 100% subsidiary of the federal government.