As part of the deal the Greek owner has agreed to relinquish part of its stake in Maran Nakilat though it retains overall control.

Two of the vessels Maran has under construction at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) will join the existing four vessels under the umbrella of Maran Nakilat, a source at Maran Gas confirmed.

The 160,000-cbm ships are due to hit the water at the end of this year and early next year and are not related to Maran’s two additional newbuildings announced today by the Korean shipbuilder, he said.

The expansion of the Maran Nakilat pact follows the signing today of a $662.4m Islamic refinancing package which will see Nakilat raise its stake in the joint venture, the Qatari company said in a stock exchange filing without going into further detail.

A source at Maran Gas told TradeWinds that the Greek company retains control of the JV with a 60% stake though he declined to reveal how much has been relinquished.  

Maran Nakilat, which was set up in 2005 and covers four ships on long-term contracts to Qatari LNG producer RasGas, signed the refinancing deal with Qatar Islamic Bank and Barwa Bank, Nakilat said in the statement.

Nakilat is the world’s largest owner of LNG vessels with a fleet of 56 wholly and part-owned ships leased on long-term contracts to QatarGas and RasGas.

With the addition of today's pair, Maran Gas now has nine LNG carriers under construction at DSME and eight more units at Hyundai Samho all for delivery by the second half of 2016.