GAIL to invite bids again for building three LNG carriers.

GAIL (India) Ltd will reinvite bids for the construction of three liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers by July, easing certain conditions for bidders after India's largest gas transporter had to scrap a previous tender because of lack of interest from shipbuilders.

'We are inviting bids in days to come in the new format. We recently invited the shipyards, shipping lines and Indian shipyards for a pre-tender meeting. Some changes in the tender conditions have been requested. While one ship is to be built in India, the balance two can be built elsewhere,' B.C. Tripathi, chairman and managing director of the state-owned GAIL, told reporters.

The tender, which was floated on 1 August 2014, was aimed at hiring nine LNG carriers, with the condition that three of them be made in India.

However, there were no takers for the tender, since local yards, inexperienced in building such ships, failed to get expert LNG shipbuilders to share technology for the same.
The technology for building LNG ships is currently available with Japanese and South Korean shipyards.

Tripathi added that he 'has been given to understand” that Cochin Shipyard Ltd, Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering Co. Ltd and Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) shipyards have signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with Korean shipyards for the same.

Mint on 19 February reported L&T Shipbuilding had signed a non-disclosure agreement with South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd for a potential technology tie-up to build LNG ships. Cochin Shipyard was also holding talks with Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. Ltd for collaboration.

“We will meet the timeline of January 2018. That date is sacrosanct,” said Tripathi while adding that the public-sector undertaking (PSU) may look at mid-term or short-term charters for hire to meet the offtake.

GAIL needs the carriers for a period of 20 years for transporting LNG from the US to India.

Natural gas is shipped as a liquid and is reconverted at LNG terminals.

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