MISC consortium gets LNG shipping charter contracts

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 10): MISC Bhd said the shipping company, via a consortium with Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (K-Line) and China LNG Shipping (Holdings) Ltd (CLNG), has been awarded liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping charter contracts by QatarEnergy for seven new LNG carriers (LNGCs) that will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd.

“QatarEnergy is the state-owned energy company in the state of Qatar, and is involved in exploration, production, refining, transport, and storage.

“Pursuant to the TCPs (time charter parties), the LNGCs will be employed by QatarEnergy under long-term charters starting from 2025,” MISC said in a Bursa Malaysia filing on Wednesday (Aug 10).

MISC, however, did not specify the value and duration of the LNG shipping charter contracts, which will involve LNGCs with a capacity of 174,000m3 each.

MISC is a 51%-owned subsidiary of Malaysian national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas).

According to MISC, Tokyo-headquartered NYK is a global transportation company which operates a sizeable fleet of ocean vessels, planes and trucks. K-Line, which is also headquartered in Tokyo, is a container transportation and shipping company.

“CLNG, a company incorporated in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, is a company specialising in LNG shipping, covering LNG transportation project research, investment, supervision and management of LNG carriers,” said MISC.

According to MISC, each consortium member will have an equal equity interest of 25% in each awarded LNGC. MISC plans to enter into shareholders’ agreements with the consortium through its wholly owned Portovenere and Lerici (Labuan) Private Ltd (PLL).

“Joint venture companies will be formed to manage the commercial operations of the LNGCs and Eaglestar Shipmanagement GAS (S) Pte Ltd, [and] an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the company (MISC) will be providing ship management services for part of this project,” MISC said.

In a separate statement, MISC president/group chief executive officer Datuk Yee Yang Chien said MISC “believes that strategic partnerships and collaboration remain the key to achieving and maintaining the industry’s growth and success in the long term as we continue to serve the energy-related needs of our customers all over the world”.

At Bursa’s 12.30pm break on Wednesday, MISC’s share price rose six sen or 0.85% to RM7.12, which values the company at about RM31.76 billion.