The LNGC SOUTHERN and her sister ship the LNGC ARZEW were purchased from the U.S. Maritime Administration in 1990 by Argent Marine Services, Inc.(an affiliate with the Argent Marine Companies). At this point, the vessels had carried a total of approximately 20 cargoes for the El Paso Company Algeria I project and been laid-up for 10 years.

Argent Marine Operations, Inc. (AMO) was formed in early 1990 to manage the vessels, and began work on their reactivation to support reinitiating of LNG deliveries from Algeria. When negotiations for that trade collapsed in 1993, it became necessary to place the vessels into deep lay-up. AMO developed a lay-up plan utilizing an anchorage in Virginia's James River that resulted in an estimated net savings in excess of $1 million per year over alternate options. For additional details, click here.

With the vessels in lay-up, AMO personnel managed, performed and oversaw, as required, those work items necessary to maintain and, in targeted areas, advance the vessels' condition with the target objective of reducing reactivation cost and time and increasing the value of the vessels.

With the passage of time, it was decided that the vessels would be reactivated to current international standards. As such, AMO performed a worldwide terminal interface study, mooring study and a complete review of all applicable codes and standards. The changes required fell into three areas: regulatory, commercial and operational. AMO then designed and had approved by Class the required modifications for the items in each area, specifically:

Regulatory: LNG relief, hazardous area separation upgrades, safety upgrades.

Commercial: Cargo discharge analysis and upgrades, addition of shore vapor return capacity, LNG gauging system upgrade, reconfiguration and lowering of cargo manifolds and terminal interface.

Operational: Mooring system, redesign and upgrade, addition of 2600kw standby diesel generator set, addition of 2500 sq. ft. workshop, ballast tank reconfiguration, engine room access, design and installation of custom nitrogen generation units, bow thruster upgrade, ship model testing for speed guarantees and electrical system capacity upgrade.

With the receipt of the reactivation notice for the LNGC Southern in March 1998, AMO completed reactivation specifications and detailed engineering, ordered the required long lead equipment ($10+ million), and performed shipyard surveys, shipyard tenders and bid evaluations. Under AMO's direction, the reactivation commenced in February 1999 and the ship was redelivered to the Owner in October 1999.

Reactivation notice for the LNGC Arzew was received in March 1999. The Arzew was ultimately reactivated for a specific charter with a greatly reduced scope of work.

The vessels were renamed the LNG DELTA and the GALEOMMA and are currently trading, Argent having sold the vessels in 2001 to Shell.

Argent Marine is uniquely equipped and staffed to be able to offer vessel management services to other owner/operators.