Japan's MOL Plans to Expand FSRU Fleet: Press

Japanese shipowner Mitsui OSK Line (MOL) will more than double its fleet of LNG regasification ships to cater to the rising demand in southeast Asia, Nikkei reported August 6.

The company will add six floating storage regasification units (FSRUs), bringing its total to 10 by 2025. This is part of plans to expand its LNG-related fleet to 110 vessels by the same year from about 90 at present, Nikkei reported. The company is expected to invest upward of yen 100bn ($940mn) for these efforts, including vessels for joint ownership.

Last month, Wood Mackenzie said in a report that demand for LNG from the south and southeast Asia region will grow over five times to reach 236mn metric tons/year by 2040 with almost half of that demand coming from Indonesia and India alone.

Nikkei said that part of the addition to MOL's fleet will be a floating unit the company is building for a gas-fired power station to come online in Indonesia's West Java province in 2021.