Milaha Acquires 100 Pct in Two LNG Carriers

Doha, July 02 (QNA) - Milaha announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Qatar Shipping Company, has acquired the remaining 60 percent interest in each of the two entities that own the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers, Milaha Ras Laffan and Milaha Qatar, from Societe Generale, thereby increasing its stake in those entities from 40 percent to a controlling 100 percent, a statement carried by Qatar Exchange website said. The vessels are chartered to RasGas under a 25 year long-term fixed time charter agreement. Milaha Ras Laffan and Milaha Qatar have approximately 14 years and 16 years remaining, respectively, under the time charter agreement. Both vessels were built by Samsung Heavy Industries. Milaha Ras Laffan was built in 2004 with a capacity of 138,273 cbm while Milaha Qatar was built in 2006 with a capacity of 145,602 cbm. "This transaction reflects our disciplined execution of our long term strategy of investing in core businesses. We have a strong momentum and believe that we can sustain our growth and continue to execute on our strategy," said Milaha Chairman HE Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al-Thani. Established in 1957, Milaha has grown to become one of the largest and most diversified maritime and logistics companies in the Middle East. Its operations now range from ocean transport and offshore support services to third party logistics and ancillary solutions. (QNA)