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Qatari shipping company Nakilat has expanded its joint venture with Greek shipping company Maran Ventures Inc. to include two new liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels.

Maran Nakilat Co. Ltd. was established in 2005 with four jointly owned vessels, and the agreement has been expanded on three occasions. The latest agreement increases the number of vessels jointly owned by Nakilat and Maran Gas Maritime Inc. - the gas shipping unit of Angelicoussis Shipping Group, controlled by billionaire John Angelicoussis - to 13.

Nakilat's managing director, Abdullah Al Sulaiti, said: "Maran Gas is a highly reputed, quality operator and we are delighted in reconfirming our association with the company. This move strengthens ties between the two entities, and the current agreement allows for further expansion in the future."

He added: "Nakilat's strong financial performance has allowed us to increase our fleet size further. Selecting strong partners in the shipping industry has been fundamental to Nakilat's success, and our relationship with Maran continues to be reinforced since our first agreement in 2005."

The two new state-of-the-art vessels are currently under construction in South Korea and, upon delivery in the third and fourth quarters of 2015, will bring the total number of LNG and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) ships partially or wholly owned by Nakilat to 67. The vessels are tri-fuel diesel electric (TFDE) propulsion models with capacities of 161,870 cubic metres and 174,000 cubic metres respectively.

"We are extremely pleased to strengthen our relationship with Nakilat by this further expansion of Maran Nakilat. We are very proud of our association with Nakilat and look forward to working closely together in the future with their highly professional team in order to explore and develop opportunities in the LNG space," remarked John Angelicoussis.

Image: Nakilat's managing director Abdullah Al Sulaiti (right), and John Angelicoussis (left), owner of Angelicoussis Shipping Group.