Petronas unit may re-issue $309 mln tender-paper

KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 (Reuters) - Petronas Carigali, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia's national oil firm Petronas [PETR.UL], may re-issue a 1 billion ringgit ($309 million) underwater maintenance contract due to higher costs, the Edge newspaper reported on Saturday.

Higher charter rates for diving support vessels, rising costs of hiring diving professionals and related equipment may force the company to re-tender the three-year job which was supposed to be awarded in the first quarter of this year, the paper said.

"Margins would have become razor-thin, with recent surge in operating costs. It would not make sense to award the contract and then have material charges made to the existing terms due to higher costs," the newspaper quoted an unnamed industry source as saying.

The paper did not mention the location where the contract was scheduled to be carried out.

Alam Maritim Resources Bhd (ALMT.KL: Quote, Profile, Research) through its unit Alam Hidro, Allied Marine & Equipment and Offshore Works Holdings were the three bidders for the earlier tender, the paper reported. ($1=3.234 Malaysian Ringgit) (Writing by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Anshuman Daga)