New Tankers to Join KOTC Fleet
According to reports, eight new oil tankers will join Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC)'s fleet during 2007, said KOTC Chairman Abdullah Al-Roumi on Wednesday. The company said the new tankers will be delivered in stages between January and December 2007, to secure ample time for the company's experts to inspect and test the tankers well and make sure they match the agreed upon features. The offices supervising the building of the fleet, in South Korea and Singapore, are staffed with Kuwaitis who have received the highest training in England, said the Chairman. This plan is in line with the fleet renewal plan as the older tankers are being scraped. The new fleet will all be dual-hull oil tankers, as single-hull oil tankers will be phased-out over the next two years.
KOTC to Tender for Four Vessels
Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) said it would issue a tender in the next few months to build four 300,000-tonnes crude oil tankers as part of plans to upgrade its fleet. Chairman Abdullah Al Roumi said Asian shipbuilding companies were expected to take part in the tender. He said each tanker was expected to cost between $120 million-$130 million. 'It will cost more this time compared to the previous cost of $100 million for a tanker because the price of shipbuilding materials has increased worldwide,' Roumi said. He said nine other tankers are already being built and will be delivered in 2007 and that KOTC planned to build two more tankers in the future. Source: Trade Arabia
Kuwait to Build New Crude Oil Tankers
The Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) plans to build four new crude oil tankers with a total capacity of 1.2 million tons, Kuwait News Agency (TUNA) reported on Wednesday. According to the report, each tanker will cost 120 million to 130 million U.S. dollars depending on technical specifications, while the previous cost was 100 million dollars per tanker. KOTC Chairman Abdullah al-Roumi attributed the higher prices to rising shipbuilding materials worldwide. KOTC will open a tender for the project in the next few months and shipmakers from the Far East are expected to submit their bids, said al-Roumi. As many old tankers were put out of service, KOTC has set up a plan to upgrade and enlarge its fleet. Source: Xinhua
