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March 26, 2002
Government of Oman, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and
Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
signed Memorandum of Understanding
for the Acquisition of a Newly-built LNG
Carrier
The Government of the Sultanate of Oman ("GOSO"),
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. ("MOL")
and
Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui")
are pleased to announce that they have signed
a Memorandum of Understanding for the acquisition
of a newly-built LNG carrier with a cargo
tank capacity of approximately 145,000M3
and a MOSS spherical cargo containment system.
The new vessel will be constructed by Kawasaki
Heavy Industries, Ltd., Japan ("KHI")
and be delivered in March 2004.
Upon delivery by KHI, the new vessel will
enter into a Long-term Time Charter Agreement
with GOSO.
The new vessel will be the 2nd LNG carrier
to be chartered by GOSO, following the S/S
Lakshmi, in which GOSO also has an equity
stake of 40%.
With the S/S Lakshmi and the new vessel,
GOSO plans to embark on an ambitious programme
of developing the shipping industry in Oman
and, thereby, increasing its presence in
the LNG market.
Mitsui is an equity shareholder in the prestigious
Oman LNG company, with a stake of 2.77%.
MOL will soon send specialists to its office
to be established in Oman, through which
besides providing ship management services
to those LNG carriers, MOL will contribute
to the development of the shipping industries
planned by GOSO.
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