In its first foray into South America, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) bagged a 10-year marine services contract for Argentina's first operational liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.
Valued at about $70 million, the contract was awarded to a consortium that includes Adani Harbour International FZCO, a step-down subsidiary of APSEZ.
The other half of the consortium (known as Meridian Transportes Marítimos S.A) is the Meridian Group based in Argentina, which holds a 49 per cent stake.
The consortium will now provide end-to-end marine services for the Southern Energy FLNG project's first export to India.
This includes tugboat operations for LNG carriers, offshore logistics, and support for crew transfer services. For these marine services, APSEZ will utilise four high-specification tugboats, one anchor handling tug supply vessel, and one crew boat.
In the future, the APSEZ project will play a key role in meeting India's LNG requirements after New Delhi diversified its import sources due to the impact of the war in the Gulf on energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
"By combining (APSEZ's maritime) capabilities with strong local partnerships, we are helping create reliable maritime ecosystems that enable new energy trade corridors and strengthen long-term supply resilience," said Ashwani Gupta, Whole-time Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), APSEZ.
In fact, the Informal Group of Ministers (IGoM) meeting on April 18 saw South America being discussed as one of the major regions from which India was sourcing its LNG and LPG imports. The other two key regions were the United States and Australia.
Agreements have also been made for the exports of up to 10 million metric tonnes (MMT) annually to India from 2027 onwards, in which the Southern Energy FLNG project is expected to play a major role.
What is the Southern Energy FLNG project?
Floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) is an offshore facility that recovers, purifies, and liquefies natural gas from subsea fields.
The Southern Energy FLNG project, which is the first such operational project in Argentina, is being developed by Southern Energy S.A. (SESA), a joint venture between Golar LNG and Pan American Energy (PAE).
In fact, it was SESA that conducted the global tender process that eventually led to the Adani Harbour-led consortium winning the contract.
Located in the San Matías Gulf in Argentina’s Río Negro Province, the project will liquefy natural gas from the General San Martin pipeline onboard the FLNG vessel Hilli Episeyo (IMO: 7382720), with commercial operations expected to begin in September 2027.
A larger FLNG vessel, the MKII, which has a reported capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), is expected to begin operations from 2028 onwards.
