There is also news from Smit Terminals, which provide vessel assistance services at Bonny Island in Nigeria, where export volumes have been building continually since the project commenced. By the end of this year Nigeria LNG’s Bonny Island export terminal is expected to load its 1,000th LNG carrier since the facility was commissioned in mid-1999.

Currently, up to three LNG carriers load at Bonny each week but because the number of vessel calls is increasing, the service provided by Smit has recently been upgraded to give full 24 hour support. The tugs are deployed on behalf of the NLNG project principals; Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Shell, Total and Eni. The increasing vessel traffic has prompted changes in the Smit tug deployments in Nigeria. The four 50 ton bollard pull tugs and two support craft at Bonny Island were strengthened with the arrival in June 2006 of the 57 ton bollard pull tugs Smit Diare and Smit Owena. If necessary the fleet may be reinforced with more vessels over the next twelve months.

Smit also provides towage and other terminal services at Brunei’s Lumut gas export terminal in cooperation with its partner Keppel. Three Smit tugs are based at Lumut:, the 67 ton bollard pull ASD Pegasus 51 and the 65 ton bollard pull tractor tugs Phoenix 52 and Pisces 53.

In 2005 Smit commenced shiphandling services at the new LNG export terminal in Damietta, Egypt. The contract, with terminal operators BP, Union Fenosa, BG and Petronas, is serviced by the two 60 ton bollard pull ASD tugs ‘Smit Port Said’ and ‘Smit Damietta’, built in Turkey to a Robert Allan design.

Smit Terminal’s latest contract at the Bioko Island LNG export terminal in Equatorial Guinea will be served by two 65 ton bollard pull vessels due to enter service in January 2007 on behalf of Equatorial Guinea LNG and Marathon Oil. Smit is also actively tendering for new LNG terminal support contracts in the UK, Mexico, Qatar, Yemen and other countries.

By JACK GASTON