Golar LNG has agreed to purchase NYK Line’s 177,427-cubic-metre LNG carrier Grace Dahlia to convert it into its fourth floating LNG (FLNG) production unit.
Built in 2013, the LNG carrier is slated for conversion at CIMC Raffles’ shipyard in China, where Golar’s FLNG Esperanza is under construction. The fourth unit is scheduled for redelivery in 2029.
The new FLNG will be Golar’s second unit built to the same design and will share Esperanza’s annual liquefaction capacity of 3.5 million tonnes. The company said its LNG storage capacity would be about 20 per cent greater than Esperanza’s.
“The larger storage capacity will provide prospective FLNG customers with additional offloading flexibility while retaining the benefits to Golar of a repeat design,” the company said.
In August 2026, Golar announced its agreement with Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore for the fourth unit’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) scope.
The company estimated the conversion project’s overall budget at about US$2.45 billion, including delivery of the completed unit to its prospective site.
Golar said at the time of the August agreement that it was targeting a long-term charter for the fourth unit. The company reported that advanced commercial discussions on the unit’s future employment were in progress.
“With redelivery scheduled for 2029, FLNG number four represents the world’s earliest available FLNG capacity,” the company said earlier this month.
The EPC agreement calls for Black and Veatch to supply its licensed liquefaction technology, undertake detailed engineering and process design, and specify and procure topside equipment. It will also support commissioning of the topsides and liquefaction process.
Esperanza is being converted from the former LNG carrier Fuji LNG, which has a capacity 148,500 cubic metres.
Grace Dahlia was built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) and delivered to Japan’s NYK on September 30, 2013. The carrier has four Moss-type spherical LNG tanks with a combined capacity of 177,427 cubic metres.
KHI described Grace Dahlia at delivery as the world’s largest Moss-type LNG carrier then in operation
