Greek owner Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) has confirmed a long-term charter deal with Petrobras’ logistics subsidiary Transpetro for a series of nine shuttle tanker newbuildings.
The vessels, to be built at Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea, have secured 15-year employment each with revenues for TEN estimated at around $2bn.
Deliveries are scheduled for 2027 and 2028. Transpetro will take the vessels on a bareboat charterer and assume all operating and technical costs associated with the running of the vessels.
“The nine vessels, on top of the three under construction at present and four already in the water, make us one of the largest operators of suezmax DP2 shuttle tankers globally,” said George Saroglou, president and chief of operations at TEN.
On a fully-delivered basis, TEN counts a diversified fleet of 83 ships it crude, product and LNG carrier segments.