The departure of the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) ‘Prometheus’ is a positive development, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday, over the ship that will form part of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project at Vasiliko.

He specified the FSRU’s first stop will be Singapore.

“It is a positive development that it has departed. This is one of the three legs concerning Vasiliko terminal, there are two others and all the steps are in progress so that it can be completed as soon as possible and can be utilized, for the benefit of the people of Cyprus.”

The FSRU departed from Shanghai, China in the early hours of Saturday morning local time. Energy Minister George Papanastasiou described it as a “crucial and decisive step” for Cyprus’ energy ambitions and goal to offer cheap energy to consumers.

Christodoulides said natural gas is one of the three pillars of Cyprus’ energy strategy and the sooner we can utilize it, the better it will be for the benefit of the Cypriot people.

The first stop of ‘Prometheus’ is Singapore, and “we are in discussions with a specific state, so that it can carry out the relevant checks on the readiness of the ship and whatever else needs to be done.”

He added that then, it can sail to Cyprus and be utilized as soon as the other two steps concerning the land projects are ready. 

“So, right now we see where it will end up, we are close to an agreement, I don’t want to mention the country before we are in the final stage, and from there on to see how it will be utilized until the infrastructure is ready in Cyprus for us to utilize it, where it will be rented.”

Papanastasiou previously said the infrastructure at Vasiliko to utilise the FSRU is expected to be ready at the end of 2025.