Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers (KNOT) has ordered a specialised shuttle tanker newbuilding in China after it snared a new charter deal with Brazilian energy giant Petrobras.
Brokers reported that KNOT has inked a contract for a lone 154,000-dwt DP2 shuttle tanker with Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry Zhoushan Shipyard (Cosco Heavy Zhoushan).
The newbuilding, which is due for delivery in 2025, has been fixed on a 15-year time charter with Petrobras.
The Norwegian-Japanese joint venture is said to have beaten off several close competitors to snatch the business.
The company has been contacted for confirmation and further details.
KNOT has history with Petrobras and Brazil.
The Brazilian company had already signed up to charter a DP2 tanker newbuilding that was ordered at Cosco Heavy Zhoushan earlier this year.
This vessel is fixed on a 10-year contract with Petrobras and is scheduled for handover in October 2024.
KNOT and its US-listed master limited partnership KNOT Offshore Partners have also worked with Petrobras on other shorter-term deals on its vessels.
In 2020, the company contracted a 154,000-dwt suezmax at Cosco Heavy Zhoushan against a 10-year charter with PetroChina International (America). The vessel, the Daqing Knutsen, delivered in June, is being used to shuttle crude from a floating production, storage and offloading vessel stationed off Brazil.
KNOT has been a regular at Cosco Heavy Zhoushan, where it has now ordered seven shuttle tankers since 2012.
No prices have been given on the specialised tonnage but one of the ships contracted in 2020 was priced at around the $100m mark.
KNOT is a joint venture between TS Shipping Invest and NYK Group. TS Shipping Invest is owned by Haugesund-headquartered Knutsen OAS Shipping chief executive Trygve Seglem and his family.
The company has also moved into dual-fuel tonnage.
In February 2020, KNOT contracted two 124,000-dwt LNG dual-fuel shuttle tankers at South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering at a reported price of $141m each, with delivered this year.
The vessels, which were also fitted with batteries, were ordered against 10-year charters with Italy’s ENI for operating in the North Sea.
