Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has taken its Indian energy shipping aspirations to the next level by investing in six very large ethane carriers it had been operating for on behalf of Reliance.
MOL has come onboard in a deal that will split ownership of the ships 50:50 with Reliance, one of India’s largest conglomerates led by Mukesh Ambani.
Speaking on this strategic transaction, P.M.S. Prasad, executive director at Reliance, said “Given MOL is currently the operator of all the six VLECs, investment by MOL will deepen our relationship with them and ensure continued safe and efficient operations of the VLECs.”
Takeshi Hashimoto, executive vice president at MOL, said, “MOL has detailed knowledge about these assets having supervised the construction and delivery of the six VLECs and subsequently operating them since their delivery.”
Getting more involved in India’s energy supply chains has been one of the strands of MOL’s latest medium term business plan.
