Today Qatargas and Nakilat named two more of the world’s largest Q-Max LNG Carriers at a special ceremony held at Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard on Geoje Island.
The first ship “Umm Slal” was officially named by Mrs Fatima Al-Kuwari, spouse of Mr. Ghanim Al-Kuwari, Qatargas Chief Operating Officer-Administration
and Mrs. Lori Woodbury, spouse of Mr. Jeff Woodbury Vice President of ExxonMobil Development Company LNG Terminals & Transportation, named the second vessel, “Bu Samra”.
Mr. Ghanim Al-Kuwari said; “It is an honour to be here today to name this vessel which represents the very best that is possible when nations and companies work together to achieve great things. These vessels will be used to supply a reliable clean source of energy to Europe and beyond, adding the energy diversity of those countries for many years to come.”
In addition, on August, 28th Qatargas and Nakilat will name three more Q-Max vessels at a second Naming Ceremony to be held at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Ltd. shipyard. The first ship “Al Ghuwairiya” will be named by Mrs. Pascale Darricarrere, spouse of Mr. Yves-Louis Darricarrere, President, Total Exploration & Production. The second and third vessels, “Lijmiliya” and “Al Samriya”, will be sponsored by Mrs. Hollis Kazmann, spouse of Mr. Tom Walters, Executive Vice President ExxonMobil Development Company, and Mrs. Julia Richardson, spouse of Mr. Andy Richardson, Shipping Project Manager, Qatargas Operating Company Ltd., respectively.
Prior to the ceremony, Mr. James Adams, Chief Operating Officer of Qatargas 2, commented: “Qatar Petroleum, Qatargas and ExxonMobil pioneered the development of the Q-Max LNG carrier, making it possible for liquefied natural gas from Qatar to be shipped safely and economically to all corners of the world. We would like to thank each of the shipyards, our Qatargas 2 teams and everyone involved for their outstanding efforts in delivering these ships safely and on time.”
Mr. Muhammad Ghannam, Nakilat’s Managing Director said, “Over the next 2 years, all of our 100% wholly-owned 25 new LNG ships, 14 Q-Max and 11 Q-Flex, will be fully operational. These twenty-five vessels, along with our 29 jointly-owned ships are part of our 54 vessel fleet currently being built by Korean shipyards. Thirty-two of these LNG carriers will be dedicated to Qatargas.”
The Q-Flex and the even larger Q-Max are a new generation of LNG mega-ships. The Q-Max has 80 percent more capacity than conventional LNG carriers with about 40 percent lower energy requirements due to the economies of scale created by their size and the efficiency of the engines. Q-Max LNG carriers are unique and purpose built for Nakilat and will be on long-term charter to Qatargas.
Qatargas 2 shareholders are Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil Qatargas II Limited and Total E&P Qatargas II Holdings LTD.
