Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS (KNOT; headquarters: Haugesund, Norway), of which NYK has a 50 percent share, has officially reached an agreement with J. Lauritzen A/S (headquarters: Copenhagen, Denmark) to purchase its three shuttle tankers.*
 
The shuttle tanker fleet acquired by KNOT consists of the following vessels:
 
1. Dan Eagle (built: 1999; DWT: 45,000 tonnes)
2. Dan Cisne (built: 2011; DWT: 59,000 tonnes)
3. Dan Sabia (built: 2012; DWT 59,000 tonnes)
 
After delivery to NYK, Dan Eagle is assigned to a five-year time-charter for Petróleo Brasileiro S.A.
 
Since their respective deliveries from the shipyard in 2011 and 2012, Dan Cisne and Dan Sabia have each been engaged in a 12-year time-charter for Petrobras Transporte S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Petrobras SA., and these two shuttle tankers will continue to provide this service.
 
This purchase will grow the NYK Group’s shuttle tanker fleet to 28 ships, and the group’s offshore business will resultantly expand with a focus on crude-oil transport from the North Sea and the waters off Brazil.
 
In accordance with its medium-term management plan “More Than Shipping 2018,” NYK will continue its efforts to provide stable and economical energy-transport services in both the shuttle tanker and offshore businesses.
 
*Shuttle tanker
A shuttle tanker, often called a “floating pipeline,” loads crude oil from floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) units in deep-water fields, and then transports the oil to crude-oil storage units or petroleum storage stations on land.