KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 24): MISC Bhd, one of the world's largest single owner/operator of liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers, will co-own two newbuild LNG vessels with Mitsubishi Corp and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), mainly for the LNG Canada project.

The two LNG carriers, which are currently being built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, will be delivered in 2021 and will serve Mitsubishi's wholly-owned subsidiary Diamond Gas International Pte Ltd on an 18-year charter contract.

MISC said its interest in the total contract value is estimated at US$201.6 million.

"Diamond Gas manages the sales and marketing of Mitsubishi's equity offtake of LNG volumes from the US and Canada, as well as other countries around the world," said MISC in a bourse filing today.

MISC said it has signed an agreement with the two Japanese firms for the partnership to co-own the LNG carriers, each with a capacity of 174,000 cu m.

MISC president and group CEO Yee Yang Chien said the tri-party partnership is in line with the group's strategy of diversifying its business ventures to support the expansion of its third-party business portfolios and further broaden its revenue sources.

MISC said the partnership is a maiden collaboration with Mitsubishi, but MISC and NYK are already co-owners of the Aman Class vessels.

MISC currently has a fleet of 29 LNG carriers and two floating storage units, with a combined deadweight tonnage capacity of over 2 million.

Shares in MISC slipped one sen or 0.13% to close at RM7.74 today, with 1.74 million shares done, bringing a market capitalisation of RM34.55 billion.