In Spain, dozens of ships with liquefied gas cannot be unloaded: what happened

Dozens of ships with liquefied natural gas are sailing off the coast of Spain, unable to unload

Euractiv writes about it.

The media outlet noted that Europe is currently facing interruptions in the supply of energy carriers due to russian aggression in Ukraine. And therefore, it is looking for alternative sources of supply, including LNG.

However, according to Euractiv, the arrival of numerous fuel shipments revealed a lack of "regasification" capacity in Europe.

After all, plants that turn cooled fuel back into gas are currently operating at their maximum limit.

If this issue is not resolved soon, these vessels may start looking for alternative ports outside Europe to unload their cargo.

According to traders, analysts, and sources at LNG terminals, on October 17, more than 35 vessels drifted off the coast of Spain and into the Mediterranean Sea.

They are loaded with gas, with at least eight vessels at anchor in the Gulf of Cadiz alone.

An industry source said that Spain is offering just six slots at its cargo regasification terminals this week.

This is less than a fifth of the number of ships standing in line near its shores. There are a total of six terminals in the country.

In a statement issued late on Monday, Spain's national gas grid operator Enagas said it might have to abandon offloading due to a lack of capacity at its terminals.

He added that the high level of employment at the country's regasification plants is expected to continue until at least the first week of November.

A lack of regasification plants or pipelines connecting countries with such capacity to other European markets means that LNG floating on the high seas cannot be used.

Spain has the largest regasification capacity in the European Union, accounting for 33% of all LNG and 44% of LNG storage capacity.