Petronas ready for gassing up, cooling down services in Bintulu Port

KUCHING: Petronas LNG Ltd (PLL), a subsidiary of Petronas LNG Sdn Bhd (PLSB) recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd (BPSB), a subsidiary of Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd ( BPHB) for the provision of marine services to support PLL’s Gassing Up and Cooling Down (GUCD) services at the Bintulu Port for a period of three years.

The GUCD is a specialised service to bring the storage tanks on LNG carriers, after drydocking, to natural environment and later cool it down to cryogenic temperature (minus 160 degrees Celsius) before loading its next cargo, it said in a statement yesterday.

The services at the Bintulu Port will commence in 2018, positioning Bintulu as one of the premier LNG hubs and making it one of the few terminals in the world to offer this facility. The LNG for gassing up services will be supplied from the Petronas LNG Complex in Bintulu.

Signing the MOA on behalf of PLL was its chairman, Ahmad Adly Alias while Bintulu Port was represented by Dato Mohammad Medan Abdullah, BPSB Group chief executive officer.

Also present to witness the signing were PLL head of fleet management, Mohd Hanafi Jamal and Omar Salleh, chief operating officer of BPSB.

“The GUCD services is a niche and specialised service offered by Petronas. This is the first GUCD services in Malaysia at the Bintulu Port,” said Adly.

“This collaboration is expected to enhance Petronas’ portfolio of services in the integrated (LNG) value chain,” he added.

In supporting the GUCD services, Bintulu Port will provide port and maritime services with attractive rates which will provide cost savings to the LNG vessel operators.