A consortium made up of India’s Cochin Shipyard Limited and Global United Shipping India is in talks with the country’s gas utility GAIL India Ltd, to consider late submission of the bid to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels, after the companies failed to meet the application deadline, according to the Business Standard.

Namely, the companies formed the consortium last month and proposed the very first Indian bid to build six LNG vessels for the country’s biggest shipping tender, worth around USD 7 billion.

The new vessels, which would have a cargo capacity of 150,000-180,000 cubic metres, will be deployed to carry cargo for GAIL from the US.

If granted approval for the late submission of bid, the Indian consortium would build two out of six vessels in India at Cochin Shipyard, while the remaining four ships would be constructed outside the country.

This shipping tender previously sparked the interest of Japanese shipowners.

Namely, a consortium comprising Japanese shipping companies Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) and Mitsui & Co Ltd, and another group including Mitsubishi Corporation, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) and GasLog Ltd are reported to have submitted their bids to hire the LNG carriers intended to transport gas from the US.

However, the Business Standard cited an industry official as saying that the terms of the Japanese consortia bids were not in line with the conditions set by GAIL’s tender.