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Pantheon, Inc. (Pantheon), is a wholly owned domestic
subsidiary of GENDYN. Pelmar Co. (Pelmar) and Morgas, Inc.
(Morgas), are wholly owned domestic subsidiaries of corporations
unrelated to petitioners. On May 7, 1976, Pantheon, Pelmar, and
Morgas formed the Lachmar Partnership (Lachmar), a general
partnership. Pantheon and Pelmar each owned 40 percent, and
Morgas owned the remaining 20 percent of Lachmar. Lachmar was
organized for the purpose of purchasing, owning, and operating
two specialized vessels (LNG tankers) that were designed and
built for transoceanic transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
LNG is made by cooling natural gas to a temperature below
minus 256 degrees Fahrenheit. It is then transported at that
temperature in special-purpose tankers. After delivery from the
tankers, the LNG is returned to a state in which it can be
distributed through pipelines. The construction of LNG tankers
incorporates specialized and expensive technology which when
installed in a tanker renders it economically unusable for other
transportation purposes. Due to the cost to specially build them
and the lack of economically feasible convertibility, LNG tankers
are normally constructed for well-defined long-term projects, and
there is virtually no open market for LNG tankers.
There are four LNG terminals within the contiguous United
States and one in Alaska, all of which are capable of landing and
receiving the type of LNG tanker under consideration in this
case. Throughout the period under consideration, it was not
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