Pertamina orders eight vessels from local shipyards
Friday, January 22 2016 - 12:20 AM WIB
State owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina (Persero) has ordered eight general purpose vessels each with a capacity of 17,500 DWT from three local shipbuilders, namely PT Angrek HItam Shipyard, PT Daya Radar Utama and PT Multi Ocean Shipyard.
The eight vessels worth a total of US$200 million are to be delivered to Pertamina in phases starting this year.
Pertamina?s Corporate Communications Wianda Pusponegoro said the firm deliberately selected local shipyards to provide the vessels to participate in developing the country?s maritime industry.
?This will provide opportunities for the local shipyards to get experience in building large-size tankers,? she said.
Angrek Hitam, based in Batam, Riau Archipelago province, got order to build two vessels for products, namely MT Parigi and MT Pattimura, while Daya Radar, based in Lamongan, East Java province, got order to build three vessels for crude, namely MT Panderman, MT Papandayan and MT Putri; and Multi Ocean, based in Karimun, Riau Archipelago province, to build three vessels, namely MT Pasaman for products, MT Panjang for aviation fuels, and MT Pangrango for crude.
At present, Pertamina has 65 vessels of various sizes to transport crude and products to meet the national demand. Another 11 vessels are scheduled to be delivered to the firm to strengthen its fleet.
Aside from the eight vessels ordered from the local shipyards, the firm will also receive three medium-range vessels, called MT Sanggau, MT Serui, and MT Sanana respectively, each with a capacity of 40,000 DWT from New Times Shipbuilding Co Ltd in China in the first quarter of 2016. The three vessels cost $100 million. In 2012, the Chinese company built a 85,000 LTDW vessel, called Gam-konora for Pertmaina.
According to Wianda, the fleet expansion program is in line with the firm?s efforts to achieve ?Shipping Excellence? which is part of the firm?s ?Marketing and Operation Excellence? program. It also comes in line with Pertamina?s five-pillar strategic priorities to strengthen infrastructures to boost competitiveness.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon