Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) transport company Nakilat has assumed full ship management and operations of Q-Max LNG carrier Al Ghuwairiya from Shell Trading and Shipping Company Ltd. (STASCo), with effect from December 1 2016.
Al Ghuwairiya is the fourth Q-Max LNG carrier to be taken over as part of the planned and phased transition agreed between Nakilat Shipping Qatar Ltd. (NSQL) and STASCo in October 2016.
Mozah, the first Q-Max LNG carrier to be transitioned under the agreement, was taken over by Nakilat in late October, while the second LNG carrier under the deal, Mekaines, was transferred from STASCo in early November.
NSQL took over the third LNG carrier in the series, Umm Slal, on November 23.
NSQL and Shell earlier agreed that a total of 25 LNG vessels will be transferred from Shell, including fourteen Q-Max and eleven Q-Flex LNG carriers.
Nakilat said that this transition, which will be conducted in three phases, will be “the world’s largest transition of an LNG fleet operation.”
With a cargo carrying capacity of 263,300 cubic meters, Al Ghuwairiya is wholly-owned by Nakilat and chartered by Qatargas.
The vessel built in South Korea by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering was delivered in December 2008 and has been in service ever since.
Al Ghuwairiya brings the total number of vessels managed by NSQL to 12, comprising of 8 LNG and 4 LPG carriers.