Pertamina receives two new tankers from PAL

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina received on Wednesday two new tankers with a capacity of 17,500 deadweight tonnage (DWT), produced by state-owned shipyard PT PAL Indonesia, The Jakarta Post reported.

The tankers, each worth US$25.5 million, will add to the existing fleet of 64 tankers operated by Pertamina.

The paper quoted Pertamina fleet vice president Agus Pranoto as saying that his company still needed at least 13 more tankers with a range of capacities to serve the distribution of fuel across the archipelago.

According to Agus, Pertamina has commissioned the building of two tankers of 3,500 DWT, another two of 6,500 DWT, five tankers of a larger 17,500 DWT and two supertankers of 120,000 DWT and 200,000 DWT, respectively. In addition, two special tankers designed to transport liquefied natural gas, each of 120,000 DWT, are also under construction.

?We expect these tankers to meet our fleet?s glaring needs [for fuel distribution]. The last few weeks have been very busy for Pertamina, with relatively high distribution of fuel to various filling stations across Indonesia,? Agus said during the tanker handover ceremony.

The tankers, named after MT Pagerungan and MT Pangkalan Brandan, are the sixth and seventh tankers built by PAL for Pertamina. (*)