Maersk Qatar contracts FSO giants

Dubai: Maersk Oil Qatar AS has awarded a joint venture of Euronav and Overseas Shipholding Group two contracts for the provision of Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) services on the Al Shaheen oilfield off Qatar. The contracts are for eight years and will be performed by two vessels, the TI Asia (2002) and the TI Africa (2002), both double hull tankers of 442,000dwt, the largest ships of this type in the world and currently in the ownership of Euronav and OSG respectively. The contracts will require extensive conversion and the vessels will commence the provision of FSO services in July and September of 2009. [28/02/08]