Finnish ice measures unlikely to hinder LNG arrivals

Ice restrictions put in place at Inkoo and Hamina on 9 December should not pose any threat to the delivery of LNG to the terminals in these two harbours, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (FTIA) told Argus today.

The restrictions limit access to icebreaking assistance only to vessels of at least Swedish-Finnish ice class II and deadweight 2,000t. In practice, this is likely to have little to no effect on the delivery of LNG, as all normal LNG vessels should qualify as ice class II.

"This first restriction seldom hinders any vessels from transporting any goods to or from Finnish ports, since most vessels qualify for Finnish-Swedish ice class II," the FTIA told Argus. The FTIA does not foresee "any rapid changes" in regards to ice build-up at present, but is monitoring the situation closely, it said. There is "thin-level ice and new ice in the inner archipelago" around the Gulf of Finland, with ice formation in places further out, according to the Finnish meteorological institute. It has been an abnormally cold start to the ice season this year, with the total area of ice coverage as of Sunday at 36,000km², compared with 10,000km² on the same day last year. There were light restrictions at Inkoo during the last ice season between 7 January-4 April 2023, but only to the level of ice class II and deadweight 2,000t.

The 145,000m³ Arctic Princess arrived at Inkoo on 7 December and left the port on 10 December without issue, having delivered an 800GWh cargo from Norway's Hammerfest liquefaction plant (see data and download). Inkoo is next due to receive a shipment on 26 December, according to the terminal schedule. The Arctic Princess is an ice class II vessel and thus had no problems navigating out of Inkoo, a source close to the matter told Argus.

The risk that ice poses for many shippers makes securing cargoes difficult, many market participants told Argus last month. Eesti Gaas managed to secure a contract for the delivery of three cargoes from Hammerfest in the coming months aboard ice-class vessels, which should not encounter problems with ice unless it becomes particularly thick.

Finland has been left entirely reliant on LNG deliveries to Inkoo and Hamina for its gas supply this winter following the rupture of the 2.6bn m³/yr Balticconnector pipeline.

By Brendan A'Hearn