Qatar Gas Transport to lease 10 LNG carriers

Qatar Gas Transport Co said it will lease 10 South Korean-built liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, bringing the size of its carrier fleet to 16. The company said it signed a contract with Qatar Liquefied Gas Co to acquire seven 'QFlex' carriers and three 'QMax' carriers on 25-year lease. The 10 vessels, which will be constructed by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries, will enter service in January 2009, QGTC managing director Muhammad Ghannam said in the statement. Although the value of the contract was not specified, QGTC chairman Faisal al-Suwaidi said in May the company intends to invest a total of 16 bln usd to have a fleet of 61 carriers by 2010. (Source: Forbes)