Italian oil firm Eni has signed an agreement with tanker operator Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers (KNOT) to charter two newbuild shuttle tankers.
Shuttle tankers are used to offload oil from offshore platforms
South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering will build the two 124,000 DWT shuttle tankers, with a delivery date scheduled for mid-2022. The two shuttle tankers will be fuelled by LNG.
Once delivered, the vessels will operate in the North Sea under a time-charter contract for a maximum 10 years period.
"These vessels will be able to reduce emissions of CO2 equivalents significantly compared to conventional oil-fueled shuttle tankers, through using LNG as the primary fuel and further utilized the energy recovered from volatile organic compounds. There will also be installed a battery package to save energy during DP operation," KNOT Offshore Partners said.
Trygve Seglem, President and CEO of KNOT: "We are pleased to announce that KNOT and ENI extend their partnership in the North Sea with two new LNG shuttle tankers. ENI, through their ownership in Vår Energi has many interests in North Sea gas and oil fields and is thus one of the major players in the area. This contract is the third and fourth long-term time-charter shuttle-tanker contracts between ENI and KNOT Group. We are pleased that ENI has recognized KNOT capabilities and expertise in the shuttle tanker operation with the awarding of [these] new contracts”