Trade Arabia reported that Ras Laffan reached a significant milestone when the 5000th LNG tanker berthed there to load its cargo bound for Canada.

Qatar Petroleum said that the chartered vessel, Al Ghuwairiya owned by the Qatar Gas Transport Company is one of the new generation Q-Max LNG tankers able to load a full LNG cargo of 260,000 cubic meters.

To mark the occasion, a special ceremony was held in Ras Laffan Industrial City office in the presence of senior officials from Qatargas, RasGas, Nakilat and Qatar Petroleum.

Mr Abdulaziz Al Muftah director of Ras Laffan Industrial City presented a commemorative plaque to Al Ghuwairiya ship master Captain Derick Gomes.

Mr Al Muftah said that this achievement would not have been possible without the close collaboration of all the involved companies. He pointed out that it had taken about 15 years to reach this milestone. But now with full production of 77 million tones per annum from Qatargas and RasGas, the 10,000 LNG vessel milestones will be achieved in about 5 years time.

He said that the companies based in Ras Laffan were poised for strong growth and prosperity thanks to the industrial city providing the common facilities of land, infrastructure, port and the common cooling water. The port is ultra modern and one of the top exporting ports in the Middle East and Asia regions. With six operational LNG berths, the port is the world's premier LNG exporting facility and the only gateway for Qatar’s LNG.

(Sourced from Trade Arabia)