American Petroleum Tankers (APT), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, has taken delivery of the fourth and final 50,000dwt product tanker constructed by US-based shipbuilder Philly Shipyard. The 29,801gt tanker, named the American Pride, was delivered ten days ahead of the contract delivery date. The vessel is based on a proven Hyundai Mipo Dockyards (HMD) design that also incorporates numerous fuel efficiency features, flexible cargo capability, and the latest regulatory requirements. The ship has also received LNG Ready Level 1 approval from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). The ship has a carrying capacity of 14.5 million gallons of crude oil or refined products. Like her three sister ships, the American Pride was originally under contract with Philly Tankers, a Jones Act shipping company established in June 2014. In August 2015, Philly Tankers entered into definitive agreements with APT for the assignment by Philly Tankers of its shipbuilding contracts and related assets to APT.

Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation has entered into agreements with Dalian Shipbuilding to the value of $533 million. Under the deals, signed on 20th November, the company ordered four VLCCs and three Suezmax tankers. The new VLCCs are expected to be delivered in August, October, December 2020 and March 2021, respectively. The Suezmaxes are scheduled for delivery in August/November 2020 and January 2021.

Dynagas Holding took delivery of two Arctic LNG carriers from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in November, destined to work for the liquefied natural gas production project Yamal LNG. The new carriers, the Boris Vilkitsky and Fedor Litke, were ordered as part of a series of 15 LNG carriers for Russia’s LNG project. The 85,000dwt units are almost 300m long and have a 50m beam. The ships were handed over to LNG carrier owner Dynagas Holding and will be employed under long capable of all year round operation at temperatures up to -50 °С, the ships feature a high ice class Arc7 which allows them to navigate independently in the ice of up to 2.1m thick when moving astern.The 172,600m3 capacity vessels are equipped with three Azipod propulsion units of 45mw joint capacity and new membrane-type gas containment system called GT NO96 GW. DSME also laid the keel of a new gas carrier from the same batch, hull No. 2427, in November.

J. Lauritzen of Denmark added more vessels to its chartered fleet during the third quarter of 2017, as the dry cargo markets strengthened in that period. The company took on 3 handysize bulk carriers on medium-term time-charter for up to two years, with options to extend. Additionally, a smaller pressurised gas carrier was also taken on medium-term time-charter. During the third quarter of 2017, J. Lauritzen’s average number of controlled bulk carriers reached 95, down from 98 in the same period in 2016, while the average number of operated gas carriers reached 31 compared to 32 operated a year earlier.

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) expanded its fleet upon delivery of the 311,000dwt, 350,337m3 and 161,486gt VLCC Kisogawa on 15th November. The 339m long and 60m beam ship, constructed by China’s Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering, achieves a 20% saving in fuel consumption compared with the company’s conventional VLCC ships as she has been constructed minus a bulbus bow. The savings are boosted by the installation of an ultra-long stroke slow speed main diesel engine and highly-efficient large diameter propeller.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has taken delivery of the 59,880gt coal carrier Nagara Maru from compatriot Imari Shipyard and Works of Namura Shipbuilding. The vessel, which will serve Singapore-based JERA Trading, was jointly developed by Namura Shipbuilding and MOL. The 250m long ship relates to the so-called Hekinan-Max class of bulk carrier and features a wide-beam/shallow-draught configuration. The ship’s size was aimed at maximising transport volume to the discharging port, Chubu Electric Power’s Hekinan Thermal Power Plant in Aichi, Japan. MOL has operated another example of this vessel type, the Shin Yahagi Maru, since 2015 and, with the latest newbuilding, MOL will now employ two equally sized coal carriers to supply coal to Hekinan Thermal Power Plant.

Odfjell of Norway and Sinochem Shipping (Singapore) are forming a pool of eight vessels with Odfjell taking four ships on long-term charter. The two companies have established a framework agreement under which Odfjell will bareboat charter four 40,900dwt chemical tanker newbuilds which are part of a series of eight ordered by Sinochem Shipping at Hantong Wing Shipyard. Sinochem Shipping will retain ownership of the other four vessels and the two companies will form a pool for the eight ships which will be managed by Odfjell as part of its fleet. Seven of the eight newbuildings had already been delivered with the eighth expected to follow suit before the end of 2017.

Teekay LNG Partners revealed on 15th November the launch of the Teekay Multigas Pool, a new in-house commercial management solution for ethylene-capable liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels. The new pool expects to include the Partnership’s seven directly-owned ethylene-capable LPG carriers, some of which are also capable of small-scale LNG shipping. The pool fleet is projected to reach at least 12 vessels by the end of 2017, including third party partner vessels. The seven directly-owned ethylene-capable LPG carriers have been part of the Norgas Carriers Pool, operated by I.M Skaugen, and the transition of these vessels into the Teekay Multigas Pool started immediately. Teekay LNG Partners is one of the world’s largest independent owners and operators of LNG carriers, providing LNG, LPG and crude oil marine transportation services primarily under long-term, fixed-rate charter contracts through its interests in 50 LNG carriers (including 15 newbuildings), 30 LPG/Multigas carriers (including three newbuildings) and five conventional tankers.

Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) of Greece has taken delivery of the 62,557gt ice-class Aframax tanker Bergen TS, the last in the 15-vessel newbuild programme. The ship was built by Romania-based Daewoo-Mangalia Heavy Industries (since acquired by Damen Group) and started a long-term charter immediately after delivery on 27th October. The fleet expansion resulted in a 30% increase of TEN’s fleet over a period of 18 months. The first ship from the batch, the 300,000dwt Ulysses was delivered in May 2016 and she was followed by 9 Aframaxes, 2 Panamax LR1 product tankers, a DP2 Shuttle tanker, another VLCC and an LNG carrier.

Torm of Copenhagen has purchased 6 MR resale vessels for a total of $185 million, including 4 MR resale vessels from Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Limited (GSI) with expected delivery in 2019. The other 2 50,000dwt vessels have been acquired from Hyundai Mipo, namely the 29,256gt/2017 built Torm Sovereign (above) and Torm Supreme. The company has also sold the Handysize vessels Torm Fox, 23,246gt/2005 built, and the 23,740gt/2000 built Torm Rhone. In addition to the 72 owned product tankers, TORM had chartered-in 5 product tankers plus 4 LR2 vessels with expected delivery in the first half of 2018 and 4 MR resale vessels with expected delivery in 2019.