France Receives Largest LNG Tanker at Fos Cavaou

France received the largest existing tanker for transporting Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for the first time on Tuesday, reads a note released by Fosmax, the company owning the LNG terminal where the tanker arrived. 

‘Today, the Fos Cavaou LNG terminal received the Al Mafyar Q-Max tanker – the very first of its kind in France… This giant of the seas is 345 metres long and 54 metres wide, and carry up to 266,000 cubic metres of LNG – equivalent to the usage of a city such as Lyon (530,000 inhabitants) in a year,’ reads the note.

The Fos Cavaou LNG terminal is located at the entrance of the port of Fos-sur-Mer, in the Bouches-du-Rhone department in southern France.

‘Thanks to its location, it can receive imports both from sources of supply that are nearby – such as North Africa – and further away – such as the Middle East, West Africa, which are major areas of LNG production,’ reads the note, adding that the LNG terminal has a rate of use of over 50%.

The press release does not specify where the LNG came from and if the vessel was fully loaded. 

Fosmax LNG, which owns the terminal, is a subsidiary of Elengy (72.5%), and Total (27.5%). Elengy, a GDF Suez company, operates three French LNG terminals: Montoir-de-Bretagne on the Atlantic coast and Fos Tonkin and Fos Cavaou on the Mediterranean.