Seatrium Wins First Excelerate FSRU Conversion EPCIC Contract With Second-Unit Option
Seatrium has secured its first FSRU conversion EPCIC project for Excelerate Energy, with engineering due to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026 and delivery targeted for 2028.
Seatrium said on 8 October that it had secured a floating storage and regasification unit conversion contract from Excelerate Energy, with an option for a second contract. The award is Seatrium’s first full-scope EPCIC FSRU conversion project for Excelerate. Engineering is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026, with target delivery in 2028. The contract value was not disclosed.
Seatrium’s scope covers engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning. It includes regasification facilities, LNG transfer and cargo-handling systems, utilities and offloading systems, electrical and automation systems, marine modifications and associated infrastructure. The conversion will add regasification and gas-export functions to the LNG carrier’s existing storage and cargo-handling capabilities.
The completed unit will have 170,000 cubic metres of LNG storage capacity, tri-fuel diesel-electric power generation and reliquefaction technology. Excelerate said the vessel would become the 13th FSRU in its fleet, expanding the pool of assets available for LNG import infrastructure projects.
Excelerate had already moved to secure a donor vessel for its first FSRU conversion. In its second-quarter results released in August, the company said it had signed a definitive agreement in July to acquire the LNG carrier Methane Patricia Camila for the project. Excelerate expected the converted unit to be available for commercial deployment in early 2028; Seatrium’s latest announcement gives a target delivery year of 2028.
Converting an existing LNG carrier gives Excelerate another route to expand its fleet alongside ordering new FSRUs. A floating terminal can provide storage, regasification and gas send-out for markets that lack permanent onshore import facilities, need interim capacity or want to shorten infrastructure lead times. Excelerate has not yet disclosed the unit’s deployment project, service contract or commercial terms.
Seatrium says it has completed 22 FSRU, FLNG and floating storage unit conversion projects since 2007. The Excelerate award is also its second FSRU conversion contract announced within a week. On 5 October, the group secured Karpowership’s ninth FSRU conversion project, with work scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027.
The two awards come from different sources of demand: a repeat customer extending a series programme and a new customer beginning its first conversion with the yard group. The option for a second Excelerate contract remains potential work and will become firm backlog only if it is exercised.