France's GTT to pass LNG ship technology to Cochin Shipyard

None of the Indian shipyards have built LNG carriers before

France-based Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) will on Monday sign a licence agreement with state-owned Cochin Shipyard for building liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping vessels.

The French company holds patented technology for LNG ships. No Indian shipyard has yet made an LNG carrier, which costs over $200 million to build from scratch.

The GTT website says it is an engineering company formed in 1994 by the merger of two major players in the field of LNG membrane containment systems, Gaztransport and SNTechnigaz, with over 60 years of cumulative experience in cryogenics and storage of liquefied gases. GTT’s areas of expertise are cargo containment systems for LNG carriers and land storage.

LNG carriers and tanks designed with GTT containment systems are also used to carry and store other liquefied gases like LPG and ethylene. GTT licenses its technologies to shipyards and contractors. As on December 31, 2014, its revenue was 227 million euros and its order book was for 114 units.

The government has been pushing to build LNG transportation vessels for state-owned GAIL (India) for the past few years. GAIL has a plan to invest $7.57 billion for hiring a fleet of LNG ships to ferry gas from the US to India for 20 years, starting 2017.

GAIL failed to attract Japanese or South Korean shipbuilders to build LNG vessels in India.

The government had insisted that GAIL ensure a third of the shipbuilding be on Indian soil. South Korean and Japanese shipbuilders turned down India’s request to form joint ventures that facilitate transfer of technology.