LNG tanker to be removed from Delimara within first legislature if PN elected
The hub will be a multi-fuel tanker, storing both LNG and other fuels
The LNG tanker that supplies the power station will be removed from Marsaxlokk harbour within five years of a Nationalist government taking office, party candidates promised on Wednesday.
Shadow maritime affairs minister Ivan Castillo told a press conference that as part of plans for a fixed fuel hub on Hurd's Bank, the party plans to settle the project's studies and procurement by the second year of the new legislature.
"Between the third year and the fifth year, we will finalise the project. Within the first five years, that vessel will be removed," Castillo said.
The gas tanker was controversially berthed in Marsaxlokk 10 years ago amid protests led by the PN, which pointed to its potential danger.
Castillo explained that the fixed fuel hub will be set up around 23km off Marsaxlokk. Hurd's Bank lies outside Maltese territorial waters but forms part of Malta's Exclusive Economic Zone.
On Tuesday the PN said the fuel hub would be a new economic niche, replenishing tens of cargo ships which ply the Mediterranean, and it would also be used to feed LNG to the Delimara power station via a subsea pipeline.
Castillo said it would generate €450 million in revenue within three years and create 150 new value-creating careers and jobs.
He recalled how the Labour Party had previously promised to remove the LNG tanker from Marsaxlokk's shores.
"Every time the residents of Birżebbuġa and Marsaxlokk look at the tanker, they are reminded of the broken promises of the Labour Party," he said.
Castillo said the Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) that the PN is proposing will be a multi-fuel tanker which, apart from storing LNG, may also store other fuels, such as hydrogen.
"That means it will be able to adapt to any fuel we might need," he explained.
The hub could turn 360 degrees to ensure stability even in bad weather.