The first ever ship-to-ship (STS) transfer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in The Bahamas was completed on February 7 at Grand Bahama’s South Riding Point terminal.

Excelerate Energy used its floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) Exemplar, and Equinor’s LNG carrier, Arctic Voyager, to transfer a full LNG cargo while moored at the latter’s South Riding Point storage and transshipment facility.

“Excelerate conducted the industry’s first commercial STS transfer of LNG in 2007, and since then, STS transfers have been completed and proven safe in a wide range of environments, now including The Bahamas,” stated Excelerate’s chief commercial officer, Daniel Bustos. “This new STS location allows us to provide additional commercial flexibility to our customers and respond to prompt market needs in a safe and reliable manner.”

Excelerate recently completed its 1,500th commercial STS transfer on February 3, 2019, at the Engro Elengy Terminal in Port Qasim, Pakistan. To date, Excelerate has successfully transferred over 170,900,000 cubic meters of LNG using its STS protocol – of the 1,500 operations, over 1,300 have been with third-party vessels.