Shipments from Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) have been suspended after an LNG carrier lost power at the Curtis Island terminal.
The 174,300-dwt CESI Qingdao (built 2017) is loaded but broke down six days ago, according to Sky News, and it “cannot be moved”.
Terminal operator ConocoPhillips and co-owner Origin Energy said on Tuesday that two cargoes have so far been delayed.
Origin expects “more LNG cargoes will be deferred”.
The stranded vessel is preventing other ships from docking at the terminal off Queensland, eastern Australia.
APLNG has a capacity of 9 million tonnes per annum.
The facility can berth only one ship at a time. An average of one carrier is loaded every three days.
The two main customers are China’s Sinopec and Japan’s Kansai Electric.
VesselsValue lists the owners of the CESI Qingdao as Cosco’s China Shipping LNG, Sinopec and Mitsui OSK Lines.
The carrier had been due to leave for Wenzhou in China.
‘Propulsion failure’
Manager China Energy Ship Management confirmed that the vessel experienced a propulsion failure while at the berth on 22 November.
A spokesperson told Reuters: “The vessel remains safely alongside and repair work is underway. The root cause of the incident is unknown and will be fully investigated.”
China Energy Ship Management, ConocoPhillips and Origin did not say who owned the cargo on the ship.
Three other vessels were scheduled to arrive at APLNG before heading to China, according to vessel tracking data from Kpler. They are now waiting off Curtis Island.
VesselsValue assesses the CESI Qingdao as worth $189m.
Insurance cover is provided by Gard in Norway.
The vessel has a clean port state control detention record.
