Shuttle Tanker News

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Brazil’s state-owned energy giant Petrobras have signed a charter contract for cargo transfer vessel (CTV) SeaLoader 2, and agreed to start negotiations for a new CTV shipbuilding contract by the end of 2024.MOL signed the deal through its wholly owned subsidiary, SeaLoading Holding, which owns and operates CTVs.SeaLoading started a CTV agreement with Petrobras for SeaLoader 2 on a trial period in January 2022, and successfully completed more than 30 crude oil offloading operations from Petrobras' FPSOs located in the Santos Basin…

Altera Infrastructure has hired DOF to install Voyageur Spirit floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit as well as one floating storage unit (FSO) at Eni-operated Baleine oil field offshore Ivory Coast.The project includes the complete installation of seabed mooring systems, flowline between the FSO – a converted shuttle tanker Nordic Brasilia - and the Voyageur Spirit FPSO, along with their associated equipment.The contract for the redeployment of the FPSO and the FSO was secured by Altera back in October 2023.Voyageur Spirit is a cylindrical-shaped FPSO…

If you think the human element is the only cause of enclosed space deaths, think again.Enclosed space incidents are cited as the largest cause of on-duty fatalities in commercial shipping. The risks can’t simply be engineered out, but there’s a powerful coalition wanting action nonetheless.There’s a tendency to blame failure to follow procedures, they say. Investigations seldom focus on the practicality of those procedures or the influence of the operating environment and vessel design, they say.

Altera Infrastructure has been awarded contracts for the redeployment of the FPSO Voyageur Spirit and the shuttle tanker Nordic Brasilia for the Baleine Phase 2 project, located offshore Ivory Coast.The vessels are set for deployment on the Baleine field with a 15-year firm contract. The development of the project will be on a fast-track schedule, with a planned start-up date for Phase 2 in the fourth quarter of 2024. The vessels, Voyageur Spirit and Nordic Brasilia, are currently undergoing life extension work and field-specific modifications at Drydocks World in Dubai. Voyageur Spirit is a cylindrical-shaped FPSO, that previously operated on the Huntington field in the North Sea until 2020.

New Orleans-based Maritime Partners has reached a deal to acquire AMSC subsidiary American Tanker Holding Company, which owns a fleet of 10 Jones Act tankers.Maritime Partners' newly formed Project Merchant Acquisition arm signed a share purchase agreement with Oslo-listed AMSC to acquire AHTC for an enterprise value of $746.7 million. AMSC will receive $249.3 million in gross cash proceeds from the sale.The transaction is expected to close on or before October 31, 2023, subject to certain closing conditions and AMSC shareholder approval.ATHC…

Shuttle tanker owner KNOT Offshore Partners will appoint Derek Lowe as new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer with effect from the week of September 11, 2023.The new appointment comes following the decision of Gary Chapman to step down as the Partnership’s CEO/CFO announced on April 10, 2023. Lowe will join the KNOT Offshore Partners from Telford Offshore, a provider of accommodation, construction, and pipelaying in the global offshore energy services industry. He has served as the Group Company Secretary of Telford Offshore since its formation in 2018, having provided consultancy services to its predecessor since 2015. He worked from 2011 to 2015 for the debt capital markets group of Pareto Securities, and from 1994 to 2010 for the equity capital markets group of UBS. Mr.

More than remote witnessing, more than remote data analysis, remote survey techniques are now going to aid the shift to full vessel autonomy.The technology that enables a robot to safely navigate an environment it has no prior knowledge of is called Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). “It is the key to autonomy for any aspiring can-do inspection robot.” That’s according to ScoutDI, a participant in the REDHUS project led by DNV which is developing a prototype inspection drone.SLAM is not a specific, copyrighted piece of technology.

ADS Maritime Holding said Wednesday it had acquired a 10% stake in a Dive Support Vessel and will act as Commercial Manager with primary responsibility for following up the shipowning company’s activities related to the vessel and the bareboat contract.The vessel “Southern Star” is a high spec DP3 Dive Support Vessel (“DSV”) built in 2017, suited for light subsea construction work (150t subsea crane) and advanced dive support work with accommodation for approximately 120 pax.

Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers (KNOT), an affiliate of NYK,  has taken delivery of a dual-fuel LNG shuttle tanker built at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering yard in South Korea.

A dual-fuel LNG (liquefied natural gas) shuttle tanker1 ordered by Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS,2 which is an affiliate of NYK, was delivered on August 2 at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. The vessel has been named Frida Knutsen.The shuttle tanker will be chartered to ENI Trade & Biofuels S.p.A, a subsidiary of Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi S.p.A (ENI), 3 and will be engaged in oil transportation in the North Sea and Barents Sea.The vessel will be KNOT's first dual-fuel shuttle tanker that can use not only heavy fuel oil but also LNG.

Tanker shipping company AET on Thursday named its newest vessel, Eagle Crato, the final of three Suezmax Dynamic Positioning (DP2) shuttle tankers purpose-built for long-term charter to Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, based on the agreement signed in February 2020.The Eagle Crato was unveiled at a naming ceremony held at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) Shipyard in Geoje, South Korea. Eagle Crato will be delivered to AET on Friday, and subsequently to Petrobras to commence her operations in the Brazilian Basin in a few weeks…

ADS Maritime Holding has agreed to acquire a 5 % shareholding in AET Sea Shuttle AS and AET Sea Shuttle II AS, the owners of four modern shuttle tankers operating in the North Sea, mainly on long term charters to Equinor. The vessels are Eagle Blane, Eagle Balder, Eagle Bergen, and Eagle Barents. Shuttle tankers are used for the offloading and transporting oil from offshore oil installations.The majority partner in the owning companies will remain major Malaysian tanker owner AET, part of the MISC/Petronas Group. "The vessels are operated by OSM Maritime. Sellers are ADS Shipping Limited.

Shipping company AET on Wednesday took delivery of Eagle Colombo, its latest second generation dynamic positioning shuttle tanker (DPST) from Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).The Singapore-registered newbuild is the third and final vessel in a HHI-built series to be operated on long-term charter to Shell in Brazil.AET struck a deal with Shell in December 2019 to operate the three shuttle tankers in the international and Brazilian Basin on a long-term charter.

Altera Infrastructure, formerly known as Teekay Offshore, said it has taken delivery of a new shuttle tanker from Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea.The 148,200 DWT newbuild, Altera Thule, was handed over to Altera on Thursday. The ship's crew is currently on board and preparing for sail away after familiarization, testing and drills, the company said.The Bahamas-registered suezmax will operate on long-term contracts with a group of companies that includes Chevron, Exxon, Husky, Equinor, Suncor and more, to provide shuttle tanker services off Canada's East Coast.

Tanker operator AET named its new shuttle tanker Eagle Colatina earlier this week in South Korea.The vessel is the first of three purpose-built Suezmax dynamic positioning (DP2) shuttle tankers for a long-term charter to the Brazilian oil company Petrobras based on the agreement signed in February 2020.Shuttle tankers are used for the offloading and transporting oil from offshore oil installations.The DP2 shuttle tanker Eagle Colatina, which AET says is eco-friendly and highly efficient…

Singapore-headquartered shipowner AET said it has taken delivery of Eagle Canoas, its newest shuttle tanker from South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd (HHI).The Dynamic Positioning (DP2) vessel is the second  in a series of three Suezmax shuttle tankers chartered by Shell in Brazil.AET struck a deal with Shell in December 2019 to operate the three shuttle tankers in the international and Brazilian Basin on a long-term charter. The first vessel, Eagle Campos…

Tanker operator AET announced it has named its new dual-fuel very large crude carrier (VLCC) Eagle Valence.Named during a virtual ceremony at Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in Geoje, South Korea, the 300,000 dwt newbuild is the first of two liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel VLCCs being built for long-term charter to Chartering and Shipping Services SA, a wholly owned subsidiary of TotalEnergies SA, based on an agreement signed in April 2020.Eagle Valence’s sister vessel is currently under construction at SHI and is due to be delivered in the second quarter of this year.Capt.

More shuttle tankers will be needed in the years ahead to keep pace with a projected rise in oil volumes needing transport, Rystad Energy said.Produced volumes requiring transport key shuttle tanker markets Brazil, Canada, Norway, the U.K. and Russia are expected to rise to 3.3 billion barrels per year before the end of the decade, jumping 35% from 2.5 billion in 2021, according to a recent report from the Norwegian analyst group.Apart from minor dips in total utilization across these countries in 2018 and 2021…

Tanker operator AET has taken delivery of Eagle Campos, the first of another three Suezmax Dynamic Positioning (DP2) Shuttle Tankers purpose built for long-term charter to Brazil Shipping I Limited, a subsidiary of Shell.Shuttle tankers are used for the offloading and transporting oil from offshore oil installations.AET struck a deal with Shell in December 2019 to operate these three Suezmax DP2 shuttle tankers in the international and Brazilian Basin on a long-term charter with Eagle Campos being the first in this series.

Altera Infrastructure recently took delivery of its newest E-shuttle tanker Altera Wind from South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries.The 103,000 deadweight tonne newbuild is the sixth and final in the series of DP2 shuttle tankers using liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel and recovered volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as a secondary fuel, as well as battery packs for flexible power distribution and blackout prevention.The Norwegian-flagged vessel is built to DNV's Battery Power notation and has a 1…

A new ship-to-ship cargo transfer system has been developed and patented by SafeSTS for the Dynamic Positioning (DP) shuttle tankers sector, designed to increase flexibility and efficiency for the export of oil from offshore fields.Traditionally, shuttle tankers are only used in DP mode to load from floating production, storage and offloading platforms, with subsequent transfer to export tankers taking place in side-by-side ship-to-ship transfer operations. The SafeSTS Transfer…

Bluewater's Haewene Brim FPSO, normally used for oil production from Shell's Pierce Field in the UK North Sea, has recently arrived in Haugesund, Norway.Norwegian engineering and construction Aibel shared a video of the FPSO arrival in Haugesund, towed by a Maersk Supply Service vessel. In Norway, the Haewene Brim FPSO, built in 1996,  will undergo upgrades and life extension work.While at Aibel's yard, the FPSO will also be upgraded to allow for gas export, the Norwegian firm said.According to World Energy Reports' FPSO database…

Brazilian national oil company Petrobras has hired AqualisBraemar to perform DP acceptance and annual trials for their DP shuttle tanker fleet operating in Brazil over the next three years.Under the contract, AqualisBraemar will carry out trials to verify the integrity and capabilities of the station-keeping equipment for Petrobras’ shuttle tanker fleet.Shuttle tankers transport crude oil from offshore oil fields to terminals, refineries or bigger tankers where subsea pipelines are not feasible.AqualisBraemar…