France’s first Q-Max arrives at Fos Cavaou

Aug. 13, 2013
France’s Fos Cavaou LNG terminal, at the entrance of the port of Fos-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean, received the Al Mafyar Q-Max tanker, the first of the massive 266,000-cu m vessels to arrive in France. The report neither specified if the vessel was fully loaded nor where its cargo had been lifted.

France’s Fos Cavaou LNG terminal, at the entrance of the port of Fos-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean, received the Al Mafyar Q-Max tanker, the first of the massive 266,000-cu m vessels to arrive in France. The report neither specified if the vessel was fully loaded nor where its cargo had been lifted.

Access to the Fos Cavaou terminal to receive Q-Max ships involved, the report said, “close cooperation between the company Fosmax LNG, the services of the port of Marseille Fos,…and the port services.” The pilots had conducted simulations for vessel approach and berthing in order to be able to receive the Al Mafyar.

Since it began operating in 2010, Fos Cavaou has received more than 180 vessels, one fourth of which consisted of the 210,000-cu m Q-Flex vessels. It has regasification capacity of 8.25 billion cu m/year and LNG storage capacity of 330,000 cu m.

Fosmax LNG, which owns the terminal, is a subsidiary of Elengy, 72.5%, and Total SA, 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.