AET Inc and Shell International Trading and Shipping Company have agreed the long-term charter of AET's two newbuild LNG dual-fuel Aframax tankers.
AET's president, chief executive and dual-fuel advocate, Captain Rajalingam Subramaniam, said “Shell is a longstanding and highly valued partner, and we have been working together on these time charter arrangements for quite some time. The fact that Shell has agreed to charter our new ships is a true testament to their commitment to thriving throughout the energy transition and will encourage AET to forge ahead with our commitment to operate a future fleet where at least half of our ships are fuelled with LNG.”
AET's two 113,000 dwt tankers are currently being built by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea and are due for delivery from Q3 2018. The arrangement is for Shell to take both vessels on a long-term charter commencing Q4 this year. When operating in LNG mode, the two AET tankers will emit up to 30% less CO2, 85% less NOx, 99% less SOx and 95% less particular matters. AET has become something of a pioneer in the use of the duel-fuel tankers, having ordered two Aframax shuttle tankers at Samsung.
Both Malaysia-flagged vessels will be fitted with twin LNG tanks, allowing them to trade worldwide on LNG. With LNG more readily available (Shell is a pioneer in the supply of LNG bunkers), this makes them ideally suited to operate in the 0.1% sulphur SECA regions of North America, northwest Europe and Asia, and ensures full compliance with the incoming 2020 sulphur cap.
Shell International Trading vice president crude, Mark Quartermain commented “These two LNG-fuelled vessels will help Shell Trading move crude, principally in the Atlantic basin. LNG is a credible marine fuel and will play an important role in our fleet as we introduce cleaner and more efficient vessels. As emissions standards tighten we continue to work with forward-thinking companies like AET to support lower emission transportation solutions.”
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