First vessel berths at Kochi LNG terminal

The first container carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG), MV Will Energy,  has called on the Puthuvypu LNG terminal, near  here. The  vessel, which came from Qatar, berthed at the greenfield  five-million tonne LNG terminal at around 8 am on Tuesday.  

Though the ship reached the outer sea  on  August 11, it could not enter the terminal because of  lower draft  and silt in the channel. It entered the channel only after hectic dredging operations.  The draft in the channel has now been enhanced to 14 metres — the minimum required draft to enter the   vessel.

The Marshall Islands flag carrier is carrying about 56,000 tn LNG and has five storage tanks. This would be unloaded in about five days. Petronet LNG  indicated plans to import two cargoes or shiploads of LNG  this year. In the second year, it is expected to operate at 75 per cent capacity.

The terminal constructed by Petronet LNG is likely to be officially commissioned soon. Earlier it was decided to commission in this month itself, though the construction was over by March itself.  

Though  the terminal  has  a capacity of 5 million metric tonne per annum (mmtpa), it will handle 2.5 mmtpa initially.   Slow pace  in laying the pipe lines and  entering marketing tie-ups  with consuming industries  are the main reasons for the delay in commissioning.   

The project involves a 900-km gas pipeline to Mangalore and Bangalore with an  investment of Rs 3,400 crore. Of this, 505 km pass through Kerala, 310 km through Tamil Nadu and 85 km through Karnataka.

GAIL is laying the pipeline from Kochi to Kootanad in Palakkad district  and thereon to Bangalore and Mangalore.  Because of strong resistance from land owners in these districts, only 30 km has been laid so far.    

LNG  will be made available to NTPC project at Kayamkulam, near Kollam, through pipeline  that will be laid along the seabed. Brahmapuram and  Cheemeni power  projects in Kerala  also expect to use LNG as fuel.