Doha’s Nakilat is growing its fleet with the addition of nine QC-Max class LNG vessels which will be fully owned and operated by Nakilat and chartered to affiliates of QatarEnergy.
Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) confirmed on May 8 that it has sealed a long-term deal to charter and operate the nine vessels, as part of QatarEnergy’s program to expand its fleet of LNG carriers.
These nine (QC-Max) vessels, each with a capacity of 271,000 cubic meters, will be built in China at Hudong-Zhonghua shipyards and are considered, as Nakilat claims, “part of QatarEnergy’s historic program to support its LNG production expansion capacity from the North Field.”
This signing follows QatarEnergy’s recent agreements with Nakilat for the ownership and operation of 25 conventional-size LNG vessels.
The current agreement includes the charter and operation of nine additional QC-Max vessels, increasing the total number of LNG vessels secured by Nakilat to 34.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the minister of state for energy affairs, president and chief executive of QatarEnergy, said: “We are very proud to have Qatar’s flagship LNG shipping and maritime champion join a list of world-class shipowners to operate our state-of-the-art QC-Max LNG vessels – the largest ever built.
“There is no doubt that this is another testament to Nakilat’s significant capabilities.”
On his part, Abdullah bin Fadhalah Al-Sulaiti, chief executive of Nakilat, noted: “We are proud of our partnership, and of being selected, once again, by QatarEnergy as a partner in its historic fleet expansion project.
“Through this partnership, we aim to enhance value in the LNG transportaion market as active enablers in meeting the requirements of the North Field expansion projects.”
