14 January 2015, Lagos – A fully loaded Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanker grounded off the Nigerian coast last week may siphon its cargo to another ship after tugs failed to pull it free, the owner Teekay LNG Partners, said on Tuesday.
The Magellan Spirit tanker, carrying a full load of 165,000 cubic metres, became grounded in soft mud trying to leave the Bonny Island plant of the Nigeria LNG export plant, Reuters quoted the spokesman, Jonathan Anthony, as saying in a statement.
“Expert advisers are presently on location considering next steps, such as lightening the vessel by way of a ship-to-ship transfer of a part of the cargo, which could occur as early as next week,” he said.
The Magellan Spirit is not expected to disrupt inbound or outbound tanker traffic from Bonny Island as it was not blocking the shipping channel, traders said on Monday.
The Danish-flagged tanker was en route to unload at South Korea’s Gwangyang LNG terminal, according to Thomson Reuters live ship-tracking data.
South Korea is one of the world’s top LNG importers.
Anthony said the crew and tanker are safe.
The cargo is owned by trading house Vitol, according to traders.
Teekay LNG Partners LP, the third largest independent owner of LNG carriers, is a publicly-traded master limited partnership formed by Teekay Corporation as part of its strategy to expand its operations in the LNG and LPG shipping sectors.
Teekay LNG Partners LP provides LNG, LPG and crude oil marine transportation services under long-term, fixed-rate time-charter contracts with major energy and utility companies through its fleet of LNG carriers, LPG carriers and conventional oil tankers.
