AET Tankers will order three dynamic positioning-capable suezmax shuttle tankers as it expands its long-term charter commitments with Brazil Shipping I Limited, a Shell Group entity.
The Singapore-based tanker operator — through its Malaysian parent MISC Berhad — revealed in a statement to the Bursa Malaysia today that the contract has an estimated value of $245m.
The Shell subsidiary will operate the three shuttle tankers in Brazilian and international waters when the contract commences in 2022.
The announcement did not specify whether they would be dual-fuel ships that could run on LNG as bunkers, which the company has routinely stressed is its preferred choice for future newbuildings.
Other details such as the length of the charters and the daily rates for the vessels were not disclosed.
AET and Shell have worked closely together on various fronts in recent years.
AET’s 113,000-dwt dual-fuel tankers Eagle Brasilia and Eagle Bintulu (both built 2019) are on long-term charter to Shell.
It is also building another conventional diesel-powered, 152,700-dwt, DP2 shuttle tanker for a Brazil Shipping I contract signed last year, which is set to go into effect when the vessel is delivered from Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in the fourth quarter of 2020.
SHI has built the bulk of AET’s recent shuttle tankers, including a dual-fuel pair ordered against a long-term contract with Equinor. The yard is likely to be a strong contender for the newbuildings required for this latest Shell contract.
Senior MISC and AET executives told TradeWinds in October that they were eyeing up contracts in the oil and gas transport and offshore markets that, in total, represented capital expenditure of up to $6bn.
