In order to address declining stocks of indigenous North Sea gas, BP and Sonatrach are importing liquefied natural gas from a number of LNG export countries in the region and storing it in National Grid Transco's state of the art terminal prior to vaporisation and distribution. Vessels delivering LNG to the new terminal are expected to import up to 5% of the UK's annual consumption of gas in the year ahead. Adsteam's involvement is to provide high specification, highly manoeuvrable tugs to assist in the berthing and unberthing of LNG vessels, while also providing safety standby during the discharge period.

Adsteam was awarded a contract by BP and Sonatrach at the end of last year to provide towage assistance at the new terminal. To fulfil that contract the company have put in place four tugs capable of carrying out berthing, escort, fire fighting and other support services. One of these is the 4,850bhp stern drive tug Adsteam Victory , that will be joined later in the year by two purpose built compact tugs of 5,632bhp.

Commenting on this latest stage in the delivery of the contract, Adsteam's chief executive in Europe, Stephen Eastwood said: 'We are delighted to have completed this important stage in the procedure to everyone's satisfaction. These are some of the first LNG stocks to be brought into the country for nearly 20 years and high levels of technical competence and safety performance were critical considerations in winning the contract.

We are proud to be part of a project that will be vital to the UK's energy security in the coming years and look forward to working closely with BP and Sonatrach on a programme of continuous improvement.'