The U.S. Maritime Administration has declined to sell three LNG tankers to Cabot LNG Corp. for $15 million each.
Marad earlier refused to sell the tankers to Argent Marine Services Inc., a Shell International Petroleum Co. subsidiary, because the company is not U.S. controlled (OGJ, Mar. 19, p. 18).
Marad said it rejected Cabot's bid because it cannot dispose of the vessels until Apr. 5. At that time, it expects to offer them for bids again.
Meantime, Norway's Den norske stats oljeselskap AS said Marad's action is not likely to change its plan to build two tankers to transport LNG from Norway to the U.S.
Statoil said it is not interested in trying to buy the Marad vessels. It is continuing discussions with three groups of shipbuilders on terms for construction of the tankers.
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