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Malaysia
International Shipping Corporation
Bhd which will expand its current
fleet of 13 liquefied Natural Gas
Carriers to 19 with the delivery
of six new carriers beginning end
of next year, plans to build upon
its success in the transportation
of LNG by further expanding its
LNG fleet.
According
to its chairman Tan Sri Hassan
Marican said, in its bid to become
a world leader in LNG
transportation, the shipping
corporation was looking at a
further acquisition of 6-4 more
tankers following approaches made
by producers of LNG outside
Malaysia.
However,
he declined to identify the
potential market for the
additional LNG's or the time-frame
for acquiring the additional
tankers.
It
is understood that the shipping
corporation in a good stead to vie
for other transportation project
in new LNG producing centres like
India, Iran, China and Nigeria as
well as ship-swapping arrangement
with existing LNG producers and
transporter like Brunei and
Indonesia
MISC
is the single largest
owner/operator of LNG vessels in
the world which currently totals
127 vessels. The current order
book (including six from MISC)
totals 47 vessels with new orders
made this year alone totaling 23
tankers.
Hassan,
who is also the president of
Petronas, the national oil
corporation, said the company,
which has been involved in the
carriage of LNG for nearly two
decades, has recorded creditable
performance “and it is only
natural we respond positively to
new opportunities, especially
outside Malaysia.”
The
shipping corporation which
currently transports about 16
million tonnes of the fuel, will
increase the volume to about 20
million in about a year and by a
further three million in 2004 when
the Malaysian Liquefied Natural
Gas (MLNG) plant at Bintulu
Sarawak commences the new train.
According
to the managing director of MISC,
Dato Mohd Ali Yasin the time
charter contracts for the six
tankers being built are well
underway.
“Meanwhile,
work is ongoing to refurbish the
five older Tenaga-series LNG
tankers to support the MLNG
extension project. Discussions on
the charter extension are
proceeding well with MLNG,” he
said.
MISC,
which today released its financial
results for the year ended 31
March 2001 after its AGM, hopes to
ride the slow-down in shipping,
especially in the liner trade, by
the sustained performance of the
LNG sector.
The
corporation which reported a 25
per cent increase in its group
profit before tax to RM1.43
billion on the back of a 11 per
cent increase in turnover to
RM5.85 billion, is confident of
maintaining its performance in the
current year. About 40% of the
MISC’s revenue is derived from
the LNG business, followed by
liner at 35%, while the rest comes
from bulk, petroleum and chemical.
LNG
and the tanker division accounted
for RM1.32 billion of the profit
while integrated liner logistics
contributed RM90 million to the
corporation total profit before
tax.
The
shipping corporation is also
expected to witness growth in its
petroleum tanker services which is
now served with 17 tankers
“Efforts
are ongoing to continue
strengthening the business synergy
with Petronas particularly to
capture new markets where the
Petronas Group has developed a
significant international
presence, such as Sudan and S
Africa,” Mohd Ali said.
During
the year in review MISC, which has
a fleet of 124 vessels which
consist of 13 LNG ships, 17
petroleum tankers, 15 chemical
tankers, 52 bulkers and 27 liner
containers carried, about 57 per
cent of total crude oil from the
Malaysian market and the remaining
from foreign markets. About 63 per
cent of the liftings were on term
charter and 37 per cent on spot
charter.
Mohd
Ali said the petroleum services
division would benefit from the
projected firm post freight market
rates particularly for the Aframax
and VLCC vessels.
“In
this regard, MISC has already
positioned itself to seize the
opportunities,” he added.
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