October 13 (SeeNews) - The LNG Croatia ship of state-owned company LNG Croatia, which develops the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project on the Krk island, reached the Adriatic port of Rijeka on Tuesday morning after departing from China on September 20, local media reported.
The ship is one the main elements of the future LNG terminal on the Krk island - the terminal's floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), news agency Hina reported.
The ship was converted into a FSRU vessel in a Chinese shipyard near Shanghai, news wire SeeBiz said, citing Hina's report.
In September, project company LNG Croatia said that its LNG Croatia ship is heading towards Europe from China, and is expected to reach Rijeka around October 20.
LNG Croatia has said that before arriving to the location of the terminal, the ship will dock at Rijeka-based shipyard Viktor Lenac where additional final testing will be conducted.
LNG Croatia has also said that the commissioning activities at the LNG terminal are expected to start in the beginning of December, with the aim of launching commercial operations on January 1, 2021.
The Krk LNG terminal will deliver gas to the Croatian national transmission network connected to fellow EU member states Slovenia, Italy and Hungary, as well as non-EU member states Serbia and Montenegro.
The project comprises the construction and operation of a LNG terminal featuring a FSRU unit and its connections to the national gas transmission network.
The terminal will have a capacity to transport 2.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year as from the start of 2021.
In July 2019, the European Commission approved Croatia's plans to support the development of the 233.6 million euro ($274.3 million) LNG terminal project with 100 million euro in state aid.
($=0.8516 euro)