KUWAIT CITY, 26 May 2004 — The state-owned Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. (KOTC) plans to build nine new vessels, including two giant crude tankers, at a cost of $600 million, its chairman said in comments published yesterday. The new vessels will add to the company’s current fleet of 24 tankers, which transport petroleum products, crude and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Abdullah Al-Roumi told Al-Qabas daily.