The Financial Express News

The Indian ministry of defence (MoD) has terminated the contracts with India's ABG Shipyard, which already  was out of the race for $2.6-billion four Landing Platforms Docks (LPD). This comes as another serious setback to the Shipyard after it was listed as non-performing asset (NPA) accounts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for fast resolution under the insolvency law. ABG Shipyard has failed the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) carried out by ICICI bank. The Financial Express reported that keeping in mind the poor financial health of the shipyard, the MoD has written to ABG  that their old contracts are terminated. “The MoD through a letter to ABG Shipyard has cancelled contracts including Cadet Training ship; Coast Guard Training Ship and Naval vessels.

Bangladesh's State-owned Petrobangla has inked final deals with Summit LNG Terminal Co to development the country's second floating LNG terminal. The Financial Express reported that Summit group will install a Floating Storage and Re-gasification Unit (FSRU) at Moheshkhali Island in the Cox's Bazar. The terminal will have 500 million meter standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) capacity, which would go on operation after 18 months. The cost of the second project is estimated at $400 million-500 million, which Summit will implement jointly with US based General Electric as an 20% equity investment partner. Prime Minister's Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Affairs Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury…

India's state-owned Gail India Ltd would reissue the multi-billion dollar tender to build three massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers in India with “changed norms”, reports Financial Express. There has been news that GAIL has scrapped a tender that would have led to the construction of LNG vessels at Indian shipyards. The tender, floated in 1 August 2014, was aimed at hiring nine LNG carriers, with a caveat that three of them be made in India. However, there were no takers for the tender, since local yards inexperienced in building such ships failed to get expert LNG shipbuilders to share technology for the same. Despite hard sell by the Minsitry, the tender didn't attract any Japanese or Korean shipbuilders.

Chittagong-based ship-breakers imported 42 large-sized recyclable ships in February and March this year at a cost of US$ 45 million, according to Jasim Khan's news report in the Financial Express. Industry sources said the ships will be able to supply about one million tonnes of MS rod -- a major construction material -- against the annual national demand for four million tonnes. The government earlier suspended import of recyclable ships for about a year to reduce related accidental and environmental hazards. Later on, it introduced new rules for ship breaking, and formed a Ship Breaking Cell at the Ministry of Industries to implement the rules.

According to a report from The Financial Express Bangladesh, United Shipping Line and Global International Limited have ordered two oil tankers from Khulna Shipyard in a contract signed on June 19. The two 230-ft by 38-ft oil tankers will be completed by June 2012.   Source: The Financial Express Bangladesh

According to a Dec. 13 report from The Financial Express, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) laboratories is being developed in a bid to set up testing laboratories of international standard for shipbuilding industries, commerce minister Faruk Khan said. (Source: The Financial Express)

According to a report from The Financial Express, Bangladesh has received orders worth $20m for building two small vessels and a tugboat from Middle East countries at the region's biggest shipbuilding fair in Dubai. The country's ship builders, Ananda Shipyard and Slipways, acquired the new orders at the Seatrade Middle East Maritime 2008, the largest maritime event of its kind in the region. (Source: The Financial Express)

Shipping Corp. of India Ltd. plans to buy 76 vessels for about $3.3b over the next six years, The Financial Express reported. This is the first major fleet acquisition proposal by the state-run carrier in recent years. The ships would be bought through the rest of the 10th plan period and end of the 11th plan till 2012. The 10th plan is the official span for development budgeting by the government between 2002 and 2007. The 11th plan would cover the following five years. (Source: The Financial Express)

Petronet LNG Ltd. is in talks to buy Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Chevron's Gorgon project in Australia. The Indian firm wants to import 2.5 million tonnes a year of LNG from Gorgon from 2010 using a new terminal being built at the southern city of Kochi. Petronet built India's first LNG terminal at Dahej, on the western coast, two years ago to import super-cooled gas from Qatar. If LNG supplies from Gorgon were delayed, Petronet would divert gas from its terminal at Dahej. (Source: The Financial Express)

The Indian government on March 4 approved state-run Shipping Corporation of India Ltd.'s plan to take a 33.8 percent stake in a new Panama-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation company. Shipping Corp. will invest $21 million in the firm, in which Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd., Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. would be other partners. The new company would transport LNG for India's state-run Petronet LNG Ltd., which operates a 5-million-tonne LNG terminal in Dahej on India's west coast. The company would transport 2.5 million tonnes of LNG for an expanded facility at Dahej. Petronet LNG has a long-term contract with Qatar's Rasgas to buy 7.5 million tonnes of LNG for its terminal.

The Prime Minister of Bangladesh approved the policy on the third round bidding for deep-sea hydrocarbon exploration in the country's exclusive economic zone in the Bay of Bengal, according to a Financial Express report. The policy will now be placed before the cabinet for its approval. The seismic surveys in deep sea up to 200 nautical miles into the Bay of Bengal will help locate hydrocarbon reserves, if there are any. After getting a reliable picture of energy potentials in the deep sea, the government would go for the third round bidding, according to the report. The Energy and Mineral Resources Division earlier prepared a draft policy outlining various strategies for the proposed third round bidding.