Pertamina adds 2 vessels to oil fuel tanker fleet

State owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina has added two new vessels to its tanker fleet to support its oil fuel distribution business.

The new vessels are respectively called Merauke, a 3,500 long ton deadweight (LTDW) vessel, and Kasim, a 6,500 LTDW vessel.

Pertamina spent a total of US$26.2 million to purchase the vessels. Merauke was built by shipbuilder PT Dumas Tangung Tanjung Perak at its shipyard in East Java. The same company built Matindok vessel for Pertamina, which was officially handed over to the state firm in February 2013, Pertamina said in a statement Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Kasim was built by state owned PT Dok & Perkapalan Surabaya (DPS). It is the third vessel built by DPS for Pertamina. The previous ones, which have been handed over to Pertamina, are called Kamojang and Kakap.

?The handover of the new vessels has brought the number of vessels operated by Petamina for oil fuel distribution to 200 units, including 59 units owned by the firm,? Pertamina?s Vice President for Communication Ali Mundakir said.

Ali explained the contract to build Merauke was signed on Dec. 10, 2010 with a total investment of $11.8 million; while the contract to build Kasim was signed on Aug. 26, 2010 with a total investment of $14.4 million.

Ali further said Kasim will be used to serve Pertamina?s oil fuel depots in Tarakan, Pare-pare, Donggala and Toli-toli with Balikpapan as loading port, while Merauke will serve the oil fuel needs of Pertamina?s depots in South Kalimantan and West Kalimantan with Kotabaru as the loading port.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon