ORLEN expands its LNG carrier fleet. Two new vessels ready
The ORLEN Group is expanding its capacity to transport liquefied natural gas. A naming ceremony for two state-of-the-art LNG carriers, which will join the Company’s fleet, was held at the Hanwha Ocean shipyard in Geoje, South Korea. The vessels will enhance the stability and flexibility of gas deliveries to Poland and strengthen the region’s energy security. Each new ship can deliver enough gas in a single voyage to supply as many as two million households.
“ORLEN is investing continuously in the energy security and independence of both Poland and the wider region. We are developing not only our own production, with successful exploration campaigns both domestically and on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, but also expanding our trading capabilities by growing our fleet. Each additional carrier enhances the flexibility of LNG transport to Poland and enables us to ensure stable supplies for Polish consumers and all our customers, while strengthening the energy security of the entire region,” says Ireneusz Fąfara, President of the ORLEN Management Board.
The new carriers are among the most advanced vessels of their kind in the world. Each has a capacity of 174,000 m³ of LNG and can transport approximately 70,000 tonnes of liquefied gas per voyage, equivalent to around 100 million m³ of natural gas after regasification – roughly the amount consumed by all Polish households in an average week.
The vessels — Danuta Siedzikówna-Inka and Rotmistrz Witold Pilecki — were named by their godmothers, Renata Rosiak, an Executive Director at ORLEN, and pianist Zuzanna Sejbuk. They have been designed to call at the majority of LNG terminals worldwide, which ensures a high degree of operational flexibility. The charter period is ten years, with an option to extend.
Each carrier of this size can deliver the equivalent of close to 1 TWh of energy after regasification, which represents approximately 0.5–0.6% of Poland’s annual natural gas demand. In a single year, one vessel can make 8–9 voyages on the US–Europe route, providing transport capacity of 8–9 TWh of gas per annum.
The vessels incorporate advanced technologies to improve operational efficiency. These include a reliquefaction system, which recovers LNG that evaporates during transit, and integrated power management. The engines can run on both natural gas and diesel, ensuring compliance with future environmental standards for maritime transport.
With the addition of the new vessels, ORLEN’s LNG carrier fleet numbers eight ships, a development that has significantly expanded the Company’s LNG transport logistics capabilities. ORLEN’s own fleet allows it to fulfil a substantial portion of contracted deliveries without relying on third-party tonnage, which translates into enhanced operational flexibility and efficiency.
The development of LNG transport is a key element of ORLEN’s strategy. Under this strategy, natural gas is to serve as a transitional fuel in the energy transition, with consumption in Poland potentially rising to 27 billion m³ per year over the next decade. ORLEN’s capital expenditure programme, of which securing LNG supplies is a central component, is designed to meet this challenge.
Last year, the Świnoujście terminal set a record: the ORLEN Group received 81 LNG cargoes — a full 20 more than the previous year. The total volume of LNG imported by sea came to nearly 6 million tonnes, 30% higher than the year before.
ORLEN is also expanding its presence on the global LNG market. The Company has already made deliveries to Japan, China, Thailand, Egypt, and terminals in Western Europe. The new carriers will enhance its logistics capabilities and enable even more active participation in global LNG trade.
The Company is also strengthening its gas reception capacity in the region. ORLEN uses capacity at the FSRU terminal in Klaipėda, from which regasified gas is transported to Poland via the Poland–Lithuania interconnector, with some volumes also directed to the Baltic states’ markets.
In parallel, domestic infrastructure is being developed. ORLEN has booked the entire regasification capacity of the floating LNG terminal in Gdańsk Bay, which amounts to 6.1 billion m³ of gas per year. Once the facility is operational, the number of LNG cargoes received by the Group could increase by as many as 58 per year.
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