Pertamina builds four new tankers

Pertamina builds four new tankers

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Cashing in on profits from the sale of its two super tankers last
year, state oil and gas firm Pertamina is constructing four new
smaller tankers worth about US$50 million to distribute fuel
products throughout the archipelago.

Two of the tankers, MT Plaju with a capacity of 6,500 Long Ton
Dead Weight (LTDW) and MT Fastron with 30,000 LTDW, are expected
to be completed in May, Pertamina says on its website.

The two vessels are being constructed in PT Dok & Perkapalan
Surabaya and PT Pal Surabaya's shipyards in East Java.

Dead weight tonnage refers to the weight that a ship can
safely carry when fully loaded. A long ton is 1,016 kilograms.

Batam-based PT Nanindah Mutiara Shipyard are building the
other two lighter vessels; the MT Balongan, with a capacity of
6,500 LTDW, and the MT Mundu of 3,500 LTDW.

It was unclear when these tankers would be completed.

"The total investment of the four tankers amounted to about
$50 million," media relations officer Mochamad Harud said on
Saturday.

Some of the funds for the construction were derived from the
controversial sale of the company's super tankers last year,
which the Business Competition Supervisory Commission said was
"riddled with irregularities".

Pertamina bought the two tankers, with a capacity of 260,000
Dead Weight Ton each, for $65.4 million each and sold them to the
Bermuda-based Frontline Shipping Ltd. for a total of $184
million.

At present, the state oil firm operates about 130 tankers of
different sizes to ensure that the fuel demands of the thousands
of islands in the country are fulfilled.

Pertamina owns only 30 vessels in its entire fleet and has had
to charter the rest.

Although the new tankers were relatively small, Harun said
they would help the company maintain fuel supplies in the
country.

In 2003, Pertamina's ships transported some 81 million
kiloliters of fuel products to numerous ports in Indonesia.

Higher global demand for tankers fueled by economic growth in
China and Vietnam meant ship charter costs skyrocketed by up to
100 percent last year to an average of about $7,000 per ship a
day.