Industrial action at French firm Elengy's three LNG regasification terminals has been extended by a further week to 21 March, Elengy told Argus today.
The strike was set to end at 9pm CET today but union members voted to prolong industrial action by a week. They will recast a vote on 21 March on whether to end the strike, Elengy said.
The continued force majeure at Elengy's 8mn t/yr Montoir, 2.2mn t/yr Fos Tonkin and 6.6mn t/yr Fos Cavaou import facilities will mean cargo unloadings, LNG storage utilisation, regasification and small-scale operations will not resume.
Industrial action at France's other import terminal — the 12.4mn t/yr Dunkirk import facility — was extended yesterday to 06:00 CET on 17 March, having previously been expected to end this morning.
Multiple vessels have been diverted away from France since the strikes at the country's import terminals began, and more vessels were diverted away from French facilities today. The 172,600m³ Nikolay Zubov has begun sailing away from Montoir without unloading at the facility, while the 160,000m³ Golar Crystal has declared arrival for Taiwan, having appeared to be heading towards France after loading a cargo at Qatar's 77mn t/yr Ras Laffan facility.
The 160,000m³ Sonangol Sambizanga and the 173,400m³ BW Tulip were both still declaring arrival for Montoir on 20 and 22 March, respectively.
