Teekay Offshore Partners confirmed that it had ordered three Suezmax-size, DP2 shuttle tankers from a South Korean shipyard, believed to be Samsung, for a fully built-up cost of around $365 mill with an option for a fourth.
The three firm vessels are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2017 through the first half of 2018.
Teekay intends to initially finance the installment payments for the shuttle tankers with a part of the existing liquidity and said that it expected to secure long-term debt financing for the vessels prior to their scheduled deliveries.
The orders were laced on the back of long-term contracts with a group of companies, including Chevron Canada, Husky Energy, Mosbacher Operating, Murphy Oil, Nalcor Energy, Statoil and Suncor Energy to provide shuttle tankers to transport oil from their East Coast Canada oil production.
These 15-year contracts, plus extension options, will initially be serviced by one of Teekay Offshore’s existing shuttle tankers, the ‘Navion Hispania’, and two to three third party-owned shuttle tankers currently operating in East Coast Canada, which will be chartered-in to Teekay Offshore’s Canadian affiliate, located in St John’s, Newfoundland, prior to the delivery of up to four shuttle tanker newbuildings.
“These new, strategic long-term shuttle tanker contracts mark Teekay Offshore’s entrance into the growing Eastern Canada offshore oil production market, which is a focal point for Canadian oil and gas development,” commented Peter Evensen, CEO of Teekay Offshore.
“Teekay Offshore now has a leading market position in all three DP shuttle tanker basins, including the North Sea, Brazil and now the East Coast of Canada. I am pleased that we continue to secure new, accretive growth in our offshore logistics business, which increases the Partnership’s growth pipeline to $3.7 bill of capital projects and extends our growth into late-2017 and 2018,” he explained.
Elsewhere, Tradewinds reported that relative newcomer - Jellicoe Tankers - had ordered up to eight Aframaxes again under long term charters, believed to be with Shell.
It was thought that the order was split between four firm and four optional contracts at Daehan Shipbuilding and was valued at $440 mill in total.
Reederei NORD was said to have ordered two Aframaxes from Samsung, while Frontline 2012 ordered another two Aframaxes from New Times.
Up to four Aframaxes were said to have been ordered by China Shipping Tankers from DSIC, who was also rumoured to be the recipient of another order for two Aframaxes from Cara Shipping.
Thenamaris was also reported to have ordered another two VLCCs, signing a Letter of Intent with Hyundai. The vessels are believed to have cost up to $96 mill each.
Scorpio Bulkers has also confirmed that it is to sell three Capesize and two LR2 newbuildings for around $236 mill in aggregate.
The LR2s are currently under construction in Romania and have expected delivery dates in the fourth quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017.
No other details were revealed.
Oman Drydock Co (ODC) has won an order to convert two OBOs to VLCCs for Springfield Shipping,part of the Onassis Foundation.
The multi-million pound contracts will see ODC convert the recently purchased 319,869 dwt 2010- built ‘Selma B’ to the ‘Olympic Lion’ and the 2009-built ‘Camilla T’ to the ‘Olympic Leopard’.
This deal follows an identical contract ODC completed for Springfield on the ‘Olympic Luck’, which was successfully completed in January this year.
ODC chairman Dr Abdulmalik Bin Abdullah Al Hinai, said; “The ‘Olympic Luck’ was the first major conversion job we had undertaken and its success was a tremendous showcase for the world class workforce, skills and infrastructure that we have here at ODC.”
Dr Abdulmalik also said that he anticipated that work would begin in June involving around 500 workers and would use more than 6,000 tonnes of steel.
ODC CEO Yong Duk Park said the conversions will be managed using the highly sophisticated expertise of South Korean shipbuilding giant DSME, which is ODC’s partner. Park claimed that few other shipyards in the Gulf can match the level of conversion and shipbuilding skills at ODC’s disposal because of its partnership with DSME.