Lithuania’s Klaipedos Nafta has sounded out the market for a liquefied natural gas floating storage and regasification unit, with the aim of determining whether there is a better alternative to acquiring Hoegh LNG’s Independence FSRU, which it already has on long-term charter.

KN said the procurement results would show whether it was worth exercising an option to acquire the Independence, as provided for in the vessel’s lease, operations and maintenance agreement with Norwegian contractor Hoegh.

This agreement expires at the end of 2024 and state-controlled KN has to decide by December 2022 whether it will go ahead and purchase the existing facility that is deployed Klaipeda.