NASSCO Delivers Final Jones Act Tanker for APT
With the delivery of Palmetto State to American Petroleum Tankers (APT), San Diego shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO has now handed over the final ECO Class tanker constructed as part of an eight-tanker, dual-customer program.
Palmetto State, delivered June 7 during a signing ceremony at the NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, is the final vessel in a series of eight liquefied natural gas (LNG)-conversion-ready product tankers ordered by two companies, APT and SEA-Vista, LLC, in 2013.
According to the builder, the eight vessels are the most environmentally friendly tankers to enter the Jones Act trade. The tankers’ “ECO” design offer 33 percent increased fuel efficiency and a corresponding reduction in ship emissions. NASSCO said.
Each vessel is 610 feet long, weighs 50,000 deadweight tons and features 330,000 barrel cargo capacity.
NASSCO constructed and delivered all eight ECO tankers in a period just under three years, during which the company achieved several first-time milestones, including a record throughput of 60,000 tons of steel per year and the delivery of six ships in 2016.
“The ECO Class tanker program pushed us to develop more efficient planning and production techniques, and fundamentally improved the way we perform every day,” said Kevin Graney, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. “I credit the success of this program to the thousands of hardworking men and women who contributed to the design, construction and delivery of these ships. Their dedication to continuous improvement was demonstrated by the hull-to-hull learning we saw over the course of the ECO Class program.”
