New LNG Carrier Enters Polish Trade

The first of the incoming, chartered flotilla, the 174,000m³-capacity Lech Kaczynski, has made her service debut transporting a cargo from the US Gulf.

Delivered by main contractor Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) at the end of December to a French subsidiary of Norwegian shipowner Knutsen OAS Shipping, the vessel will trade on a long-term basis for PKN Orlen’s Polish Oil & Gas Company (PGNiG).

Second-of-class Grazyna Gesicka, in hand at Ulsan, is destined for similar charter arrangements and assignment to a US loading pattern effective from the second half of 2023. A third sister has been laid down, at HHI’s affiliated Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HSHI), under the six-ship programme for Knutsen underwritten by PKN Orlen engagement.

The 299m Lech Kaczynski embodies four GTT Mark III Flex membrane cargo tanks, and is fitted with onboard reliquefaction plant.

Two-stroke, low-pressure dual-fuel machinery designed in Switzerland by Winterthur Gas & Diesel (WinGD) provides the ship’s source of primary power, whereby a pair of five-cylinder X72DF engines acts on two shaftlines. The combined output of some 24,300kW, transmitted through two propellers, renders a service speed of 19.5 knots and maximum of 21.5 knots.

The assignment to Polish charter is on a 10-year basis, with the possibility of extension. While Orlen company PGNiG Supply & Trading will exercise commercial control over the ship’s deployment, the operational and technical management and crewing are the responsibility of the Knutsen organisation.

PGNiG has signed long-term contracts with American producers, including shipments from Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass and Plaquemines LNG export facilities, and has booked regasification capacity at the Swinoujscie terminal in Poland, and also Klaipeda in Lithuania. The PKN Orlen Group has also recently entered into a long-term sale and purchase agreement with US LNG company Sempra Infrastructure for the supply of gas from the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project under development in Jefferson County, Texas, covering FOB (free-on-board) purchases over 20 years.

MAIN PARTICULARS – Lech Kaczynski