Statoil ASA and petroleum and chemical tanker owners and operator AET are extending their partnership in the North Sea shuttle tanker sector. Statoil has, awarded a long-term contract to AET, a subsidiary of Malaysian energy shipping group, MISC Berhad, to operate two specialist DP2 offshore loading shuttle tankers (OLSTs) on long-term charter. These new vessels will be in addition to the two AET DP2 ships currently on charter, in the same area, for Statoil.
These new vessels are in addition to the two AET DP2 ships currently on charter in the same area for Statoil. The two existing DP2 tankers are owned and operated by AET Sea Shuttle AS (AETSS), a joint venture company formed in 2012 that is also 95 percent owned by AET and 5 percent by Norwegian ADS Shipping.
The two twin skeg 125,000 dwt tankers will be built by Samsung Heavy Industries for delivery in 2019 and will be contracted to Statoil for operations both in oilfields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf of the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and the southern Barents Sea as well as on the U.K. Continental Shelf.
Built with a fatigue life based on 30 years of operations in the North Sea, they will be fully capable of working in the harshest of weather conditions; each will be equipped with winterization features, high power thrusters, shaft generators and the latest generation of bow loading system.
The shuttle tankers will be built with LNG dual-fuel for main and auxiliary engines and also an option to be fitted with a volatile organic compound (VOC) recovery system. Other environmental innovations will maximize fuel efficiency and minimize emissions. When in operation from 2019, these two DPSTs are expected to be the world’s first LNG fueled DPSTs.
In 2012, AET formed a joint venture company, AET Sea Shuttle AS, 95 percent owned by AET and 5 percent owned by Norwegian ADS Shipping, to own and operate two North Sea DP vessels. The two new ships will also be owned and operated by the same joint venture partners.
OSM Maritime Group will provide the lead technical management, supported by the MISC Group, during the construction of the vessels.