Gas crisis may prolong as Summit floating LNG terminal damaged again
It was set to resume gas supply from 26 July
The ongoing gas crisis in the country is expected to prolong, as one of the floating LNG terminals in the Bay of Bengal, which suffered damages due to the aftershock of cyclone Remal, was damaged again shortly after undergoing repairs.
It was set to resume gas supply from 26 July.
Summit's Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) returned from Singapore to Moheshkhali, Cox's Bazar after undergoing repairs to its ballast water tank on 10 July, according to a Summit statement today.
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A Summit official said, on 11 July, while preparing to moor the FSRU with the Disconnectable Turret Mooring (DTM) plug in the subsea landing pad, an unexpected entanglement and subsequent damage to the DTM buoy messenger line occurred.
Summit promptly assigned local divers who identified the entanglement. It was determined that for the retrieval and rectification of the messenger line from the subsea floor, and for further inspection, divers with better dive-depth access and a Diving Support Vessel (DSV) are necessary, the official said.
Later, Summit promptly engaged a Singapore-based service provider and is currently awaiting internationally licensed and experienced deep-divers and DSVs to reach the FSRU site for a complete inspection and rectification process expected to commence next week.
All stakeholders will be updated on the possible restoration date once the initial inspection report is available, reads the press release.
According to the press release, Summit acknowledges the gravity of this sudden setback which hinders the ship-to-ship (STS) transfer of LNG and the resumption of gas to the national grid. The company is actively working to find an immediate and safe solution to resume normal operations as soon as possible, according to the press release.
"It's common to face issues when setting up a new gas terminal. We expect the issue to be fixed very soon, within this month, Md Kamruzzaman Khan, director (operation and mine) of Petrobangla.
The initial damage, caused by a broken pontoon during Cyclone Remal on 27 May, halted gas supplies from one of the two floating LNG terminals in the Bay of Bengal, leading to a severe gas crisis nationwide.
This disruption affected industries, residential areas, power plants, and CNG filling stations, resulting in long lines at CNG stations due to low gas pressure.
This is not the first time gas supply from floating terminals has been disrupted by a disaster.
On 12 May last year, supplies from the two floating storage units were suspended due to safety concerns during Cyclone Mocha, causing a severe gas shortage in various regions, including Chattogram.
Experts underscored that for a long-term solution, Bangladesh must build land-based LNG terminals. Floating storage units are temporary fixes and cannot be a sustainable long-term solution.
Petrobangla Chairman Janendra Nath Sarkar said, "We have had plans for a land-based terminal since 2017. It will be in Matarbari. However, the Ministry of Shipping has yet to create that channel. Their plan is for 2030 or 2031. We have requested that the channel be ready by 2027 or 2028. If the Ministry of Shipping and Chattogram Port Authority can prepare the channel by 2029, we can proceed with the contract."
