Petronas LNG (PLL) has entered a two-year service agreement with Argo Engineering (Argo) and Eastport Marine (Eastport) to offer liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship-to-ship transfer services in Labuan, Malaysia.

The service will enable the transfer of LNG between two vessels positioned alongside each other and is anticipated to offer greater flexibility in cargo delivery, primarily for small-scale LNG requirements.

The latest partnership is expected to leverage Argo’s LNG shipping expertise and PLL’s LNG product portfolio, as well as Eastport’s expertise in bunkering and ship-to-ship operations.

"This ship-to-ship transfer service agreement is PETRONAS’ first collaboration in providing flexible delivery solutions that goes beyond the conventional selling and delivering of LNG."

It will also allow PLL to address new market requirements in the changing LNG industry by offering additional LNG shipping solutions.

In addition, the partnership will be benefit from the award of an exclusive license to provide LNG bunkering and ship-to-ship services at Brunei Bay in Labuan.

PLL chairman Ahmad Adly Alias said: “This ship-to-ship transfer service agreement is PETRONAS’ first collaboration in providing flexible delivery solutions that goes beyond the conventional selling and delivering of LNG.

“LNG ship-to-ship transfer services is an emerging trend to cater to the needs of small scale LNG requirements.”

In a separate development, PLL signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with Bintulu Port Holdings (BPHB) subsidiary Bintulu Port (BPSB) to provide marine solutions in support of PLL’s Gassing Up and Cooling Down (GUCD) services at the Bintulu Port.

The service is set to begin next year for a period of three years and will help bring the dry-docked storage tanks on-board LNG carriers to a natural environment, before cooling them down to cryogenic temperatures for loading their next cargo.