Qatari shipowner Nakilat has started work almost one month early on a long-planned pilot propulsion switch for one of the company’s Q-max LNG carriers, which has cost up to $20m.

Electronic data shows the 267,335-cbm Rasheeda (built 2010) is no longer trading. TradeWinds understands the ship went into the Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine (N-KOM) shiprepair facility at the start of April, almost one month ahead of schedule.