PT PAL completes 30,000-ton tanker for Pertamina

State-owned ship building company PT PAL Indonesia on Wednesday handed over a 30,000 long-ton-dead-weight (LTDW) tanker, named MT Fastron, to state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina.

Pertamina said in a statement that the transfer ceremony was witnessed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono together with a number of ministers including State Minister for State Enterprises Sugiharto, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, and Coordinating Minister for Economy Aburizal Bakrie.

MT Fastron is the biggest tanker ever made by PT PAL. The tanker is 180 meters long, 30.5 meters wide and 15.6 meters high with a speed capacity of 14 knots. The tanker has been tested using the standards of Japan's Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (NKK) Class.

Pertamina said it would use the tanker to deliver fuel products from Pertamina?s refineries to Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang and other major cities, as well as to import fuel products from Singapore and Malaysia.

Pertamina currently operates 151 tankers, 33 of which are owned by the firm and 118 chartered. The company is waiting for the completion of three more tankers, which are being built by PT PAL in Surabaya and PT Nanindah Mutiara Shipyard in Batam. The tankers will strengthen its domestic shipping. (godang)