South Korea-based Samsung Heavy Industries has reportedly secured an order from Reliance Industries to build world’s first order for very large ethane carrier. Samsung received the order – worth $723 million contract – in July from Reliance to build six very large ethane carriers, says a Platts report.

In a regulatory filing to Korea Exchange on July 17, 2014, Samsung announced that it has won a new building order for six gas carriers – each having a capacity of 88,000 cbm -from an Asian shipowner for around $120 million apiece.

“Reliance Industries was targeting the long-haul US-produced ethane to feed its cracker at the Jamnagar refining and petrochemical complex in Gujarat on the west coast of India. The cracker will be commissioned in the second half of fiscal 2016-2017, running from April to March,” said the Platts report.

Reliance Industries Ltd has invested in three shale assets in the US. Shale gas can be a low-cost source for ethane, a primary raw material or feedstock used by petrochemical companies. Ethane can be used to make plastic products that go into a wide range of industries such as cell phones, computers, tyres, construction, etc.