Pertamina gives name to giant LPG carrier in Korea

State owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina (Persero) has officially named its Very Large Gas Carrier (VLGC) now under construction in South Korea ?Pertamina Gas 2?.

The naming ceremony presided over by Marketing and Trading Director Hanung Budya was held on April 23 at the Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd shipyard in Ulsan.

The VLGC Pertamina Gas 2, claimed by the firm as ?the world?s largest?, is a sister ship of the VLGC Pertamina Gas 1 which was handed over to Pertamina on Sept. 17, 2013. Like the VLGC Pertamina Gas 1, the VLGC ?Pertamina Gas 2 will be used to distribute liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) across the country.

Pertamina said the VLGC Pertamina Gas 2 will become the 61st vessel owned by the firm and will bring the number of vessels operated by Pertamina for fuel distribution to 191. It will also be the eight LPG carrier owned by the firm and bring the number of vessels operated by the firm for LPG distribution to 28. Aside from its own fleet, Pertamina also leases vessels from private companies to support its fuel distribution activities.

The new LPG carrier is scheduled to be delivered to Pertamina on May 14.. It will first undergo a reflagging process (to change its Panaman flag into Indonesian) in Singapore before entering the Indonesian waters. The contract to construct the vessel was signed on Jan. 18, 2013.

Commissioning or sea trial was successfully carried out during April 13-17. It took 14 months for Hyundai to build the vessel. The naming ceremony is the last phase of the construction process of the vessel. It will be followed by a gas trial process at Ulsan LPG terminal. Following the gas trial, the vessel will be anchored offshore Ulsan pending port clearance before sailing to Indonesia.

The vessel will be first used to support LPG distribution in Indonesia and later to support Pertamina?s international trading.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon

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