GAIL’s LNG tender set further back

India’s GAIL was forced to push back the deadline for the submission of bids for the charter of nine LNG carriers to February 17.

The company had already pushed the deadline several times, most recent date being set for January 6, but according to a recent notice issued by the company the bidding deadline has been pushed further back.

GAIL originally issued the tender in August to charter nine vessels for 20 years in order to transport LNG from USA to India, but three of the nine vessels have to be built by Indian shipyards in cooperation with international partners. This has left major shipyards from Korea and Japan unwilling to share the technology and expertise.

The tender needs to be finalized by May, 2015 in order to start supplies from December 2017, according to India’s Ministry of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas. India’s Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan even sought help from the Korean Ambassador Joon-gyu Lee in a push to lure South Korean shipbuilders to join forces with Indian shipyards.

There are three Indian shipyards interested in the project and Four Korean Shipyards qualify for GAIL’s tender requirements namely: Samsung Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Hyundai Heavy Industries and STX Offshore & Shipbuilding.

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LNG World News Staff; Image: GAIL