Sinanju Logistics Services, the tanker operating arm of Sinanju Tankers Holdings, has signed a two-year time charter agreement with ExxonMobil for a newbuild bunker tanker five months ahead of commencing operations.
The 7,990 dwt newbuilding, soon to be christened Marine Vicky, will be the first bunker tanker for Singapore and Sinanju, to be powered mainly by liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The deal will commit Marine Vicky to delivering ExxonMobil’s new EMF.5 Engineered Marine Fuels to ocean-going vessels within Singapore port limits from the first quarter of next year.
Under the Maritime Singapore Green Port Programme, registered vessels that are serviced by alternative or cleaner marine fuelled harbour crafts during their port stay – such as receiving bunker from LNG-powered bunker tankers – stand to receive a 10% port dues concession.
Marine Vicky is a 103 m long, 19 m wide bunker tanker, equipped with a 55 cu m LNG tank paired with a fuel gas supply system on deck for engine propulsion. It is being built at Keppel Offshore & Marine’s shipyard in Nantong, China, under the the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s LNG bunkering pilot programme.
The vessel will join Sinanju’s 13-vessel bunker fleet in December this year.
