Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS, of which NYK has a 50% share, has signed a time-charter party with Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi S.p.A, an Italian multinational oil and gas company. The contract is for two shuttle tankers for a maximum 10-year period starting from summer 2013.
Two new 123,000 DWT Suezmax tankers, which are being built at Hyundai Heavy Industries and will each be equipped with a dynamic-positioning system , will be used for the contract to transport North Sea crude oil ashore. ENI has many interests in North Sea gas and oil fields and is thus one of the major players in the area.
The contract is the first between ENI and KNOT for shuttle tankers, and at the same time, is the first long-term time-charter shuttle-tanker contract for ENI. KNOT and ENI have agreed to work together to further strengthen their relationship with each other as important business partners.
The NYK Group will continue its efforts to provide stable and economical energy-transport services.
[mappress]
Source: NYK, October 27, 2011