The vessels, which will haul refined products in the coastwise trades, are of a similar design to four ships that were ordered during Q2 2013 for American Petroleum Tankers (APT), owned by financial investor Blackstone. The ships are described as 50,000 dwt, with a carrying capacity of 330,000 barrels, with delivery scheduled for late 2016/ early 2017. APT is currently operating five Jones Act ships, originally ordered by US Shipping LP, delivered from NASSCO during 2007 to 2010.
The design for the newbuilds comes from Daewoo which also provided designs for the five existing APT vessels, now basking in the sunlight of a booming market which has seen period time charter hires said to be reaching $100,000/day. This new generation of vessels, described as eco-design, are touted as offering improved fuel efficiency, notably through a G-series MAN ME slow-speed main engine, and a hull form optimized for slower speeds.
For now, tankers in the coastwise trades will continue to burn low sulphur intermediate fuels, however the earliest stages of an LNG fuelling infrastructure are being built out. However, unlike the existing group of Jones Act tankers built in the 2000’s, the 2013 version of these tankers will have dual-fuel-capable auxiliary engines and the ability to accommodate future installation of an LNG fuel-gas system.
In the US Gulf, US Department of Energy “PADD 3”, where Jones Act tankers would be loading the lion’s share of cargoes, LNG bunkering facilities are already on the drawing board at Geismar, La.,Shell working with a distributor network, and at Fouchon where Harvey Gulf is building vessels that will be LNG fuelled.
The Jones Act demand story and the LNG fuel stories are linked; both benefit from hydrocarbon production at formations such as Eagle Ford, in Texas, and Bakken, in the Upper Midwest. Over the past four years, US hydrocarbon production has risen nearly 2m barrels per day (bpd) in the landside part of the new US energy renaissance. The new production, predicted to increase by another 2m bpd in the next three years, has provided cheap gas, including that to be liquefied by Shell at Geismar, and numerous cargoes of crude oil and refined products for Jones Act tankers.
The Shell / Harvey connection is deeply intertwined. Shell has chartered three dual-fuel offshore support vessels (STX SV310DF) from Harvey Gulf, these use a Wärtsilä engine and LNG system technology. Harvey is building a series of OSV’s using an STX design, at yards in the Gulf.
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