Qatari LNG exporter RasGas delivered the first LNG cargo at the second jetty of the Fluxys-run Zeebrugge LNG terminal in Belgium last week. Unloading the vessel formed part of the operational tests required to commission the new facility. 

 

 

The new jetty has been designed for LNG carriers with a capacity from 2,000 m³ right the way up to Q-Flex-sized 217,000 m³ capcity tankers. Using both jetties will also allow two LNG carriers to be unloaded or loaded at the same time. 

Following from testing of loading operations for small LNG carriers at the second jetty in recent weeks, the reception of RasGas’ Milaha Qatar enabled the unloading of large LNG vessels to be properly tested, said Fluxys. 

“RasGas is proud to facilitate its start-up operations through the delivery of this cargo and we congratulate Fluxys Belgium on the successful unloading of the Milaha Qatar at the second jetty,” said Khalid Sultan R. Al-Kuwari, RasGas’ chief marketing & shipping officer.  

“Fluxys Belgium is particularly satisfied with the smooth delivery of the RasGas cargo, allowing us to enter the final stages of operational testing for the second jetty” said Pascal De Buck, CEO of Fluxys Belgium. 

 

Fluxys did not give the date of the ship's arrival and unloading in its December 9 release. Ship tracking services though indicated the ship set sail around midday that day back towards the Suez Canal and most likely Qatar, suggesting that the unloading may have happened a day or so earlier. The Zeebrugge terminal and its first jetty began receiving cargoes in 1987. RasGas cargoes have now been arriving at Zeebrugge for almost a decade.

 

November 22, RasGas delivered its first cargo to Dunkerque in France, believed to the LNG terminal's third commissioning cargo. It was delivered by Maran Gas Asclepius to EDF.