PSA Marine Bangladesh will provide berthing, mooring, pilot and personnel transfer services to liquefied natural gas ships calling at Summit LNG Terminal Company's floating storage and re-gasification facility.

As per a 15-year contract with Summit LNG Terminal, PSA Marine Bangladesh will provide the services with its three escort tugboats, one fast crew boat and one offshore supply vessel.

The deal was signed at the PSA Marine office in Singapore on Friday.

The awarding of the contract marks a significant milestone for PSA Marine, a subsidiary of PSA Marine (Pte) Ltd, and commencement of a long-term partnership with Summit Power International Pte Ltd Singapore (SPI). Summit LNG Terminal is a subsidiary of SPI.

Together with Summit LNG, PSA Marine Bangladesh targets to commence operations in early 2019.

Peter Chew, managing director of PSA Marine, said, “We have an excellent track record of providing towage services to LNG terminals, be it at the Singapore LNG terminal in Jurong Island or the Oman LNG terminal at Sur.”

“We are honoured to work alongside Summit Power International and this win is a vote of confidence for our standing and capability as the preferred marine services partner for LNG terminals.”

Summit is the largest physical infrastructure company in Bangladesh generating 1,500-megawatt of electricity, with another 1,000MW under construction and 2,400MW under development, said Muhammed Aziz Khan, chairman of SPI, in a joint statement on Friday.

He said Bangladesh requires 15 million tonnes of LNG and Summit will provide infrastructure for that.

“For our first project of LNG, we are pleased to bring on board PSA Marine, a pre-eminent marine services provider, to support our venture to develop the region's fast growing LNG market.”

In 2017, Summit LNG received permission from Petrobangla to develop a floating LNG terminal facility comprising a storage and re-gasification unit connected to shore by a six-kilometre subsea pipeline, on a build, own, operate, transfer basis in Moheskhali, Cox's Bazar to supply about 500 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to the national grid.

This project is part of SPI's $1 billion investment programme to deliver 1,000 MW of power and gas in Bangladesh.

PSA Marine is a leading harbour and terminal towage operator and pilotage services provider. It owns and operates more than 60 tugs in China, Hong Kong, India, Oman and Southeast Asia with flagship operations in Singapore.

Incorporated in Singapore, SPI is a leading developer, owner and operator of high-quality power projects in Bangladesh.

Having established Bangladesh's first independent power plant in 1998, SPI is the largest independent power producer in the country, representing about 21 percent of the private power market, said the statement.