Pertamina plans to charter more oil tankers

Pertamina plans to charter more oil tankers

JAKARTA (JP): In a bid to reduce operational costs, Pertamina will charter more oil tankers to transport petroleum, says an executive of the state-oil company.

Kartiyoso, Pertamina's director for shipping and communications, said Tuesday that chartering tankers will be less costly than buying new ones.

At present, Pertamina operates around 240 oil tankers, with capacities of between 1,000 and 35,000 deadweight ton (dwt) in transporting petroleum in the country.

He said that around 70 of the tankers are owned by Pertamina while the remainders are chartered under long-term contracts of between 12 and 15 years from local and foreign companies.

"The number of oil tankers owned by Pertamina is considered adequate," he said, indicating that the state-owned company will no longer buy new tankers to meet the increase in the volume of petroleum to be distributed throughout the country.

"Renting could be the most effective solution in meeting the need for more tankers in the future," he said.

Besides being less costly, Pertamina is allowed to redesign the chartered tankers according to need, he said of the benefit in using long-term charter arrangements.

"Tanker owners, on the other hand, can benefit from a long- term contract provided by Pertamina," he added.

Kartiyoso, however, said that renting oil tankers from local shipping companies is much more expensive than renting from foreign firms.

"This is the reason why most of our chartered tankers come from foreign companies," he said. (hen)