Update: Reganosa Receives 1st Q-Flex

The LNG import terminal at Ferrol in northwest Spain received its largest LNG ship to date, Al Utouriya, as scheduled during the afternoon of April 25, the terminal operator Reganosa that day. This 'Q-Flex' type vessel is number 294 on the list of arrived ships at Reganosa since it started up in 2007

The following article was published on April 21

The Q-Flex sized Al Utouriya will arrive on April 25 from Qatar; the ship was built by South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2008 and is owned by Qatari state shipowner Nakilat.  

Al Utouriya, which can hold 215,000 m³, will be number 294 on the list of ships to have arrived at Reganosa since start-up in 2007. "Although we have already received hundreds of ships, this one is special in a certain way. It is a milestone, demonstrates the company's ability to face new challenges, to adapt to any scenario, and proves the confidence of our customers in our staff and our facilities", says Reganosa's manager Emilio Bruquetas. Q-Flex ships have capacity to hold between 210,000 to 217,000 m³ of LNG and they have been regular callers at other European terminals.

The Reganosa terminal at Mugardos, Ferrol in northwest Spain (Photo credit: Reganosa)

Q-Flex ships are not the largest LNG carriers on the open seas: that distinction belongs to Q-Max ships that have capacities up to 266,000 m³. However many new ships being built today are smaller Panamax-sized 175,000 m³ or even 180,000 m³ LNG carriers specially designed for US Gulf - east Asia LNG shipments that traverse the 2016-enlarged Panama Canal.

Mark Smedley