From left: Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa al-Thani, vice-chairman of Nakilat; HE al-Sada and al-Sulaiti address the crew of ‘Al Hamla’, the first LNG carrier to be fully operated by Nakilat.
By Santhosh V Perumal/Business Reporter
Nakilat has taken over the operations of the first of the four liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels as part of its “strategic” move to be the “owner and operator” of the fleet.
Its fully-owned subsidiary Nakilat Shipping (Qatar) took over the operations of a QFlex vessel ‘Al Hamla’ from OSG Ship Management, UK.
HE the Minister of Energy and Industry, who is also Nakilat chairman, Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada officially initiated the takeover of the technical ship management of the first LNG vessel in Nakilat’s fleet via video conference call.
‘Al Hamla,’ owned 50.1% by Nakilat and 49.9% by OSG, has a cargo capacity of 216,000 cu m. Built in South Korea by Samsung Heavy Industries, Al Hamla is in active service for charterer Qatargas II and has completed the delivery of 45 cargoes across the world.
Nakilat - whose LNG shipping fleet is the largest in the world with 61 vessels - intends to continue with its objective of taking over the ship management of more LNG vessels as part of its long-term growth strategy.
It will take over the operations of one more LNG vessel by June and the remaining two by the end of July, Nakilat managing director Abdullah al-Sulaiti told the media on Thursday.
“This great achievement against a fast and challenging timeline, could not have been possible without the hard work and the dedication of everyone in Nakilat, the OSG office in Newcastle, and onboard the vessels,” al-Sada said.
The move saw the previous operator OSG being replaced by Nakilat, which has carefully laid a “solid and sound” foundation to allow expansion in the organisation and the capacity.
In November 2004, OSG formed a joint venture with Nakilat whereby companies in which OSG holds a 49.9% interest ordered four 216,200 cu m LNG carriers.
Asked whether the “owner and operator” model will have cost advantages, al-Sulaiti said cost was not a factor but the decision was rather “strategic”.
Nakilat’s LNG vessels are chartered through long-term time charter agreements with Qatargas and RasGas. Its jointly-owned LNG vessels are operated by the vessel’s co-owners, which include many of the world’s leading ship owning and operating companies.
The company had earlier this year added three new LNG vessels through Maran Nakilat, its joint venture with Greek shipping company Maran Ventures Inc, thus totaling its fleet to 61.
Nakilat Shipping Qatar had assumed full responsibility for the management and operations of four LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) vessels in 2012.
Through its two strategic joint ventures, Nakilat Keppel Offshore and Marine (N-KOM) and Nakilat Damen Shipyards Qatar (NDSQ), Nakilat operates the ship repair and construction facilities at Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard.
