Varun Shipping and its consortium partners, Exmar marine NV of Belgium, Tecto NV of Belgium and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, have been shortlisted for the contract for time charting an LNG tanker for a period of 25 years by Petronet LNG Ltd. The approximate value of this contract is Rs3,200 core.

A new joint venture company will be established for owning and operating the LNG tanker by the consortium partners. The LNG tanker, with a capacity of 156,100m3 will be built at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Company Ltd., Korea.

Varun Shipping believes that entering LNG transportation is a major step forward as LNG is expected to be the fuel of the future. The demand for imported LNG in India is expected to grow exponentially in coming years.