TEN strikes Petrobras 15-year charter for 9 shuttle tanker newbuildings

New York-listed Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) has confirmed the order of nine DP2 suezmax shuttle tankers in South Korea with 15-year employment contracts for Brazil’s oil and gas transportation company Petrobras Transporte S.A. (Transpetro). The Greek shipowner has said it expects from this projectgross revenues to be around $2.0bn.

The deliveries are scheduled for 2027 and 2028 and TEN intends to build the vessels at Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. in South Korea.

According to TEN, this is the yard that the company is currently using for the construction of three DP2 shuttle tankers, all on long-term contracts to major oil companies, with deliveries in 2025 and 2026.

The charter will be in the form of a bareboat and the charterer will assume all operating and technical costs associated with the running of the vessels during the assigned employment period.

With a proforma fleet of 16 DP2 suezmax shuttle tankers, TEN is now considered a large shuttle tanker owner.

George Saroglou, president and COO of TEN, said: “Over the years, we have targeted milestone opportunities to build modern vessels