Cochin Shipyard sets sights on LNG shipbuilding contracts

“We have already held talks with officials of the ministry and Gas Authority of India Ltd (Gail) on this. We are quite excited about the proposal to make LNG vessels in India. We are going to pursue it seriously,” said K Subramanian, chairman and managing director of Cochin Shipyard, told the Times of India.

He added that the proposal to build LNG vessels in India will come as a huge relief for the order-starved yards in the country.

Gail has already entered into long term contracts with US firms for importing 6.3mmbtu of shale gas to India. “We would require at least six to seven vessels to bring gas to India,” an official at Gail was reported saying.

India's petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily said the import of gas would be a necessary step for India in the future as the country has only 1% of the world's known natural gas reserves.

Subramanian added that Cochin Shipyard was confident in building the LNG vessels in the yard at attractive prices.