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ExxonMobil to build new Alaska tankers SeaRiver affiliate signs with Pennsylvania shipyard for pair of double-hull vessels to upgrade fleet calling on Valdez oil terminal Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
Exxon Mobil Corp.’s shipping affiliate, SeaRiver Maritime Inc., plans to build two new double-hull tankers to carry Alaska North Slope crude oil to West Coast refineries.
SeaRiver announced it had signed a letter of intent with Aker Philadelphia Shipyard in Pennsylvania for construction of the 820-foot ships, with both scheduled for delivery in 2014.
ExxonMobil will become the last of the three major North Slope oil producers to order new double-hull tankers for the Alaska trade. BP and ConocoPhillips already have built new tanker fleets.
“Today’s announcement is consistent with our long-term ongoing commitment to safe and reliable marine transportation in the United States and throughout the world,” Will Jenkins, SeaRiver president, said in a July 25 press release. “These new vessels will provide jobs for American shipyard workers and help support energy needs along the U.S. West Coast for decades to come.”
Older ships to be replaced SeaRiver, based in Houston, currently has three tankers operating between the Alyeska oil terminal in Valdez and the West Coast. These include the Kodiak and the Sierra, both 869 feet long, and the smaller S/R American Progress, at 600 feet.
All are double-hull tankers, but the Kodiak and the Sierra are older ships, built in the late 1970s. ExxonMobil in 2005 acquired the tankers, which were hauling oil for BP, and had them refurbished to replace single-hull ships.
SeaRiver indicated at the time that the purchase of the used tankers was an interim step toward a more permanent shipping arrangement for Alaska.
Ray Botto, spokesman for SeaRiver, told Petroleum News the new tankers will replace the Kodiak and the Sierra, which he said have performed well.
He declined to specify how much the new tankers will cost.
Cargo capacity of the new ships will be 730,000 barrels, close to that of the old ships.
Watchdog applauds upgrade On the same day the new ships were announced, SeaRiver representatives briefed staff with the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council in Valdez. The council is a congressionally sanctioned nonprofit that watches over the Valdez oil terminal and tanker operations in Prince William Sound.
The announcement “came as quite a surprise for us,” said Donna Schantz, the council’s director of programs. “We’d been asking them for quite some time, ‘Hey, what are your plans?’”
The new ships will be “a really positive step,” Schantz said.
With the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, Congress mandated double hulls for oil tankers by 2015, one of numerous reforms imposed after the single-hull tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound in 1989, ripping open the 987-foot ship and spilling nearly 11 million gallons of crude.
A U.S. Coast Guard study found that had the Exxon Valdez been equipped with a double hull, as much as 60 percent of the spilled oil might have stayed inside the ship.
The tanker fleet serving Alaska already has fully converted to double hulls.
Around 15 tankers regularly call on Valdez, including four each for BP and ConocoPhillips, three for ExxonMobil plus a few for Tesoro, a list the council compiled in September 2010 shows. All were built since 1997, with the exception of SeaRiver’s Kodiak and Sierra.
BP reported its double-hull tankers, built from 2004-06 and somewhat larger than those planned for ExxonMobil, cost about $250 million each.
‘A proven design’ Aker Philadelphia Shipyard is a leading U.S. shipyard building vessels for operation under the Jones Act, which requires ships trading between U.S. ports to be American-made. The shipyard is part of the Norway-based Aker family of companies.
A July 25 press release from Aker Philadelphia said the two new ExxonMobil ships will be 115,000 deadweight ton “aframax” tankers.
Project planning work already is under way in conjunction with Aker Philadelphia’s technical partner, Samsung Heavy Industries, the press release said. Construction of the first vessel is expected to begin by mid-2012 and both tankers are scheduled for delivery in 2014.
The new ships will be based on “a proven design used worldwide,” says a SeaRiver brochure on the construction project.
“All cargo and fuel compartments will be equipped with double hull protection,” the SeaRiver press release said. “Both vessels will feature the latest in navigation and communications equipment. Main engine and auxiliary systems will be energy efficient and generate lower air emissions than what is required by current regulatory standards.”
Aker Philadelphia further noted that the parties expect to enter into “definitive agreements” based on the letter of intent during the third quarter of 2011.
“The execution of those agreements is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent, including board approvals and the completion of definitive documentation agreeable to all parties,” the Aker Philadelphia press release said.
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