Oil and shipping group Monjasa on Wednesday announced it has added two secondhand tankers to its owned fleet, in a move that targets growth in West Africa’s offshore industry.

The vessels are the 17,200 DWT Monjasa Rover (formerly Fure Nord) and 7,858 DWT Monjasa Hunter (formerly Annelise Theresa), the latter of which joins as a unique fleet addition targeting length-restricted offshore oil and gas vessels in West Africa, including FPSOs, Monjasa said.

According to Monjasa, the West Africa fleet additions come amid higher local demand for marine fuels compared to 2023 levels due to the prolonged rerouting of cargo ships around Cape of Good Hope to avoid Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.  

The 2004-built Monjasa Rover replaces Monjasa Thunder (19,991 DWT), which was recently repositioned from West Africa to the Panama Canal, while the 2009-built Monjasa Hunter brings new and specialized capabilities to the Monjasa fleet. The ship's length, being less than 110 meters, allows it to go alongside oil rigs and platforms and thereby adding flexibility for the offshore oil and gas operators from the Gulf of Guinea down to Namibia.  

Group Shipping Director, Torben Maigaard Nielsen, said, “Unlike our other tankers in West Africa, which are too big in size for this purpose, Monjasa Hunter offers a distinct advantage for offshore operators in the region, Thanks to her length overall of 101m and her relatively large carrying capacity compared to her size, Monjasa Hunter can support niche length-restricted fuel operations, including FPSOs.”  

Monjasa said it took delivery of the Monjasa Rover in Riga, Latvia and Monjasa Hunter in Istanbul, Türkiye. Both tankers were then dry docked for renewal surveys, name change and subsequent hull blasting and painting matching the Monjasa fleet design.  

Following this double tanker acquisition, Monjasa now controls more owned than chartered tonnage for the fist time since its establishment in 2002. The Monjasa fleet now stands at 16 owned and 15 time charter vessels.  

Overall, Monjasa’s West Africa operations consist of around 10 tankers while the Middle East & Africa region accounts for 28% of the company’s total volume of 6.5m tonnes of marine fuels supplied in 2023, the company said.

Monjasa Hunter
• Year built: 2009
• Flag: Liberia  
• DWT: 7,858
• LOA: 101m  
• Beam: 19m
• IMO: 9478286

Monjasa Rover
• Year built: 2004
• Flag: Liberia
• DWT: 17.200  
• LOA: 144m
• Beam: 22m
• IMO: 9271884