Dutch towage firm Kotug has secured a contract from Italian energy firm Eni to provide marine services for the latter’s Congo FLNG project.
This project includes the 144 meters long Tango FLNG and the 2002-built 138,000-cbm steam turbine LNG carrier, Excalibur, which serves as an FSU for the project.
Also, a second FLNG vessel is under construction in China.
Under the terms of the contract, Kotug will deploy three powerful Rotortugs to support a range of operations, the firm said in a statement.
The operations include mooring and unmooring of vessels, handling mooring equipment, providing stand-by services, transporting pilots, and offering antipollution, oilfield goods, and also passenger transport services.
Each tug delivers over 80 tons of bollard pull and features a propulsion configuration consisting of three thrusters.
Kotug said it is dedicated to maximizing local content by collaborating closely with local suppliers and utilizing local goods and services.
This initiative will promote the employment and training of Congolese nationals, it said.
Kotug did not provide the price tag or the duration of the contract.
Congo FLNG
Eni introduced the first gas in December 2023 into its Tango FLNG facility. Prior to that, the unit arrived in Congo from Dubai.
In February this year, Eni shipped the first LNG cargo from the floating LNG facility moored in Congolese waters and this shipment arrived at Snam’s FSRU-based facility in Piombino.
The firm also sent the second LNG cargo in May and this shipment landed in Spain.
Eni purchased Tango FLNG from Belgium’s Exmar and it also chartered Excalibur from the latter.
The floating LNG producer, delivered in 2017 by China’s Wison, has a liquefaction capacity of about 1 billion cubic meters per year of gas, or 0.6 mtpa, and a storage capacity of 16,100 cbm.
Eni said the FLNG project, situated within the Marine XII permit, will achieve a plateau gas liquefaction capacity of about 4.5 billion cubic meters per annum once the second vessel arrives.
The unit with a capacity of about 3.5 bcm per year of gas, or 2.4 mtpa, is expected to begin production in 2025.
Wison New Energies, previously known as Wison Offshore & Marine, won a contract from Eni in December 2022 to build the 380 meters long FLNG.
The unit will be able to store over 180,000 cubic meters of LNG.