Shell choses AET’s DP shuttle tanker
AET's shuttle tanker is scheduled to be delivered in 2020 (Source: AET)
The vessel will be built by an unnamed yard in South Korea. The 152,700dwt type DP2 /IMO class 2 vessel is scheduled for delivery in in the fourth quarter of 2020 and, although intended for Brazilian waters, the vessel will be capable of operating globally. It will be compliant to IMO NOx Tier 3 requirements, featuring a ballast water treatment system, high-power thrusters, generators and the latest position reference system fully capable of operating in harsh weather conditions. This is Shell’s first contract involving AET’s dynamic-positioning shuttle tanker (DPST) portfolio. The two companies have had a long cooperation in other segments and recently the company took AET’s two newbuild LNG dual-fuelled Aframax vessels on long-term charter.
The latest vessel will be chartered to Brazil Shipping Limited 1, a Shell subsidiary in Brazil. “Adding AET’s dynamic-positioning vessel to our operations in Brazil supports our growing deep-water activities. It achieves this by providing us with increased flexibility for our crude trading business as we look to serve our global customers with Brazil’s growing offshore production,” said Mr Mark Quartermain, Vice President of Shell Trading and Supply Crude, said. AET has two dynamic-positioning tankers already operating in the Brazilian Basin for Brazilian energy group Petrobras and another two operating in the North and Barents Seas for Equinor. A further two DPSTs are being built for Equinor to operate in oilfields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf of the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and the southern Barents Sea as well as on the UK Continental Shelf. AET also has four dynamic-positioning vessels currently being built to take-up long-term charters for Brazilian energy group Petrobras.
