Singapore’s BW Group has announced the establishment of a joint venture with Japan’s Mitsui & Co to jointly own the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) BW Integrity.
Mitsui & Co has purchased a 49% share in BW Integrity, with BW owning the remaining 51% share and while also continuing to provide commercial and technical management services.
The FSRU is currently providing LNG regasification services at Pakistan’s Port Qasim under a 15-year charter to PGP Consortium.
“BW and Mitsui have a long history of close cooperation in many business areas and having Mitsui as a JV partner is a special relationship on which we hope to build for many years to come. It is our privilege to have such a well-established name in the energy and maritime investment spheres take an interest in one of our vessels,”said Carsten Mortensen, CEO of BW Group.
“Mitsui and BW have enjoyed a good relationship for many years in various shipping areas. The opportunity for us to enter the FSRU business is a very big step forward for our future business strategy. As a LNG receiving/regasification base project is an extension of the LNG shipping business area, it is important to acquire know-how of the FSRU business and to maintain effective relationships with partners like BW,” said Takeshi Setozaki, Mitsui & Co.’s chief operating officer of the Integrated Transportation Systems Business Unit II.
Yesterday, BW Offshore moved forward on a deal announced in April, closing an agreement with China’s ICBC Leasing, in which the latter has become an equity partner in FPSO BW Catcher.