Qatari shipowner Nakilat is growing its fleet to 105 LNG carriers with the addition of nine supersize newbuildings worth close to $3bn that it has been selected to build for domestic producing giant QatarEnergy.

Doha-listed QatarEnergy confirmed today that it has signed a long-term agreement under which Nakilat will own and operate nine of its so-called Qatar China-Max or QC-Max vessels.