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), which 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 onwards," 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. Meanwhile, 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.
MISC said it has agreed on the principal terms for the consortium and each consortium member will have an equal equity interest of 25% in each awarded LNGC.
According to MISC, it will enter into shareholders’ agreements with the consortium through MISC's wholly owned subsidiary 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 on Wednesday, MISC president/group chief executive officer Datuk Yee Yang Chien said MISC remains committed towards promoting a sustainable future for the LNG industry.
Yee 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.
MISC has 4.46 billion outstanding shares, according to the company's latest annual report.