Essar Shipping of India, which submitted a joint a tender for the carriage of LNG for the Indian market with Malaysia International Shipping Corporation Bhd (MISC), has alleged that the successful bid by Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and MOL of Japan is in violation of tender specifications.

The other unsuccessful tender by The Great Eastern Shipping with Exmar of Belgium also protested against the award of the transportation contract that requires the use of two LNG carriers over a 25-year period for ferrying LNG from the Arabian Gulf to Petronet LNG's terminal at Dahej, on the Gujarat coast.

The Great Eastern-Exmar tendered US$73,680 for the first vessel, and US$82,250 for the second, with a 3 per cent escalation factor for the next 25 years, starting 2004.

The Essar Shipping-MISC bid was for US$79,900 and US$81,000 respectively for the two vessels, with an escalation factor of 3 per cent for both vessels.

It is believed that the SCI-MOL consortium quoted a charter hire rate of $69,000 per day, which was below the rate quoted by the other two short-listed contenders.

The US$400 million contract, floated by Petronet LNG Limited of India, called for the supply of two LNG for the transportation five million tones of LNG per annum from Ras Laffan LNG Company of Qatar to the Petronet LNG receiving terminal at Dahej, in Gujarat.

If the tender award is upheld, SCI-MOL is expected to build the two 130,000 tonnes LNG carriers at a South Korean yard.