17 February 2008
Doha - RasGas plans to expand its fleet by adding more carriers to cope with the increasing demand for the liquefied natural gas from Qatar soon.
RasGas, Teekay Nakilat and J5 will name seven Q-Flex LNG carriers, entering into RasGas charters, in ceremonies at both the Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering shipyards in South Korea this week.
These vessels, an increase of almost 50 percent, will bring the RasGas LNG fleet to a total 20 ships ranging from 138,000 cubic metres (cu.m) through to 216,000 cu.m. This is a major milestone with seven large LNG ships joining the RasGas fleet simultaneously.
The first four Q-Flex ships with a cargo carrying capacity of 216,000 cu.m, approximately 50 percent larger than conventional ships and the largest ships currently chartered by RasGas will be formally named on February 20 at the SHI shipyard in Korea. The ships are owned by Teekay Nakilat (III Corporation) and will deliver LNG in the main to the Far East and US markets.
A second ceremony will be held on February 22 at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd shipyard, also in Korea, where the remaining three ships will be formally named in one ceremony.
These ships are owned by Nakilat and J5, a Japanese consortium, and will serve RasGas' global network of customers. RasGas Company Ltd is owned by Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil RasGas Inc. RasGas currently produces over 20 million tonnes of LNG per year with five trains in operation.

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