Maran Gas, Orlen name LNG carrier duo in South Korea

According to a statement by Orlen on Thursday, the naming ceremony for Danuta Siedzikowna-Inka and Rotmistrz Witold Pilecki took place at the Hanwha Ocean shipyard in Geoje, South Korea.

Orlen said the vessels will enhance the stability and flexibility of gas deliveries to Poland and strengthen the region’s energy security.

Each has a capacity of 174,000 cbm of LNG and can transport approximately 70,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas per voyage.

Orlen said each carrier of this size can deliver around 100 million cbm of natural gas, the equivalent of close to 1 TWh of energy, after regasification, which represents approximately 0.5–0.6 percent 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 company noted.

Orlen did not mention the owner of the vessels, Maran Gas, in the statement.

In April 2022, PGNiG, now part of Orlen, announced that it had chartered four more LNG carriers, two each from Maran Gas and Knutsen, boosting its fleet of chartered newbuilds to eight vessels.

Last year, Knutsen took delivery of the last LNG carrier in a series of six sister vessels chartered to Orlen.

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 said.

Orlen noted that it delivered a record number of LNG cargoes to the Swinoujscie LNG terminal last year, with most shipments originating from the US.

The firm received 81 shipments at the Polish LNG terminal, up 20 from the previous year.

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.