Haugesund-based Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers (KNOT) has ordered yet another shuttle tanker backed with long-term employment.
The suezmax tanker is to be built at the Cosco Shipyard in China and is, according to the Norwegian financial daily Finansavisen, and cost some $100m.
On delivery it will enter a long-term charter contract with China’s biggest oil company Petrochina for work in Brazil.
KNOT’s finance director Oystein Emberland confirmed the company had ordered a tanker for employment in Brazil, but declined to confirm the charterer or the contract price.
The company is already preparing to take delivery of two suezmax shuttle tankers from Cosco next year.
Newbuilding commitment
KNOT is a leading player in the shuttle tanker sector and already has six such ships on order at different shipyards in China and South Korea, all against long-term charters.
In February KNOT signed up for two LNG-fuelled shuttle tankers priced at $141m each at South Korean shipbuilder DSME. The 124,000-dwt tankers are fixed for up to 10 years to Italy’s Eni.
KNOT currently owns a fleet of 12 shuttle tankers and two storage tankers that are trading, along with its 27.8% stake in the New York-listed spin-off KNOT Offshore Partners. KNOP has a fleet of 16 shuttle tankers.
KNOT is owned on a 50-50 basis by shipowner Trygve Seglem and his Japanese partner NYK Line.
Seglem is company president and CEO and his daughter Jorunn sits on the board.
