Fortrum Shipping has attained a pair of icebreaking 106,000-tdw crude oil carriers from Sumitomo Heavy Industries. The contract, which was signed on June 30 in Helsinki, marks a major breakthrough for the Kvaerner Masa- Yards-developed double-acting tanker (DAT) concept.
While this idea has been previously adapted in two supply icebreakers deployed by Royal Wagenborg Group in the Caspian Sea, the Sumitomo newbuildings will be the premiere tanker newbuildings based on Kvaerner's patented technology. Both yards have been collaborating under a mutual co-operation agreement in developing the project to meet all the requirements set by Fortrum Shipping, thus extending to the actual construction of the ships. The understanding will give Sumitomo an opportunity to offer vessels based on the DAT concept to other clients.
The DAT concept was based upon much R&D work where Kvaerner Masa-Yards had been involved throughout the 1990s in its Arctic Technology Center in Helsinki.