Qatar Shipping Company has acquired full controlling stake in the entities that own the two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers MilahaRas Laffan and Milaha Qatar from French bank Societe Generale.

Built by South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries in 2004 and 2006 respectively, Milaha Ras Laffan has a capacity of 138,273 cubic metres, while Milaha Qatar has a capacity of 145,602 cubic metres. Both vessels are chartered to RasGasfor a period of 25 years, which means they have about 14 and 16 remaining years respectively under the charter agreement.

Qatar Shipping Company previously owned a mere 40 per cent on the entities that own the two carriers. The acquisition of the remaining 60 per cent from the Societe Generale entities proves the company’s disciplined execution of its long-term strategy of investing in core businesses, according to Sheikh Ali bin Jassim al-Thani, Milaha chairman.

Milaha is the parent company of Qatar Shipping Company. “We continue to grow our mix of business to generate more revenue and cash flow, and we are confident this transaction will create long-term shareholder value,” Sheikh Ali added in a statement.

Qatar accounts for about a third of global LNG supply. According to the UK’s BP, it exported 105.6 billion cubic metres of LNG in 2013, more than three times as much as Malaysia, its nearest competitor.