BEAUMONT, Texas — Cheniere Energy's liquefied natural gas export terminal on Sabine Pass is set to become the first LNG terminal in the U.S. to have three docks.
The brand new "third berth" at Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass LNG export terminal is now in the commissioning phase to seek approval from federal regulators to start commercial service according to a Cheniere Energy spokesperson.
Early in September 2022 history was made when three LNG tankers were docked at the terminal at the same time.
The Aristarchos, Castillo de Merida and Maria Energy can all be seen side-by-side at the terminal on the Louisiana side of Sabine Pass in a photo provided by the company.
The status of being first to use the new third berth went to the Aristarchos, a Cheniere spokesperson confirmed.
The third berth will be able to accommodate vessels with a capacity of 125,000-180,000 cubic meters according to the company's website.
Even though the new dock is still in the approval phase it can be tested and load tankers with LNG to be sold on the global spot market a Cheniere spokesperson confirmed.
Due to safety and other operational issues three tankers won't be loaded simultaneously. The three docks will allow one ship to finish up and get ready to leave as one loads up and a third is arriving.
The addition of the third dock comes at a time when customers in Europe are looking to replace supplies of Russian LNG following the invasion of Ukraine.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.