OREANDA-NEWS. January 26, 2011. In Beijing, SCF Group and the Chinese shipyard Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. signed shipbuilding contracts for the construction of two VLCC tankers of 320,000 tonnes dwt each.

On behalf of SCF Group, the documents were signed by the Senior Executive Vice President Evgeny Ambrosov, on behalf of the Chinese side – by the President of Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. Li Tianbao and the President of China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co., Ltd. Xu Zigiu.

The signed shipbuilding contracts and appropriate time-charter agreements, for the transportation of cargo owned by PetroChina International, were the next stage in the implementation of a long-term strategic partnership Agreement concluded by SCF Group and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) on 22 November 2010 in St. Petersburg. This envisages a further significant increase in the volumes of seaborne hydrocarbons transported by SCF Group vessels for CNPC – one of the world’s largest oil and gas corporations.

The first vessel is expected to be delivered for operation in the fourth quarter of 2012. The construction of the tankers in China will be overseen and their subsequent technical management will be supervised by specialists from Novoship (a member of SCF Group).

Evgeny Ambrosov noted: “The VLCC tanker segment is a new direction of activity not only for our company, but also for Russia’s fleet as a whole. Entering this market segment is stipulated within the Group’s Development Strategy for 2010-2015. Ships of this size will smoothly supplement the existing structure of our Group’s fleet, which will allow us to enhance the competitive capacity of the SCF Group companies in the global tanker market. Work for the newly ordered tankers’ is provided by long-time charter agreements for the transportation of CNPC cargoes. Such vessels are not used in Russian trade, as their size means that they cannot be handled in Russian ports. For the same reason, such large ships cannot be constructed at Russia’s shipbuilding enterprises at present or those of our existing partners, within the timeframe envisaged under the long-term contract with CNPC. At the request of our new Chinese partners, SCF Group’s technical specialists will assist in arranging the construction of the VLCC tankers at Chinese shipyards, applying their knowledge and expertise.”

Sovcomflot (SCF) Group – is Russia’s largest shipping company and one of the world’s leading energy carriers.

• Its fleet comprises 148 vessels of about 11 million tonnes (dwt) in total; its current shipbuilding portfolio includes 18 ships, representing an aggregate of more than 1.5 million tonnes (dwt).

• The average age of vessel in the tanker fleet is about 6.5 years (the world average age is 12 years)

• The company owns the largest ice-class fleet, being No.1 in the Arctic shuttle tanker and ice-class LNG tanker market segments

• SCF Group is one of the world’s leaders in the product carrier, Aframax and Suezmax tankers segments by the deadweight

• The Group’s services include not only the transportation of hydrocarbons for its customers, but also trans-shipping crude oil via FSO facilities, terminal management and developing effective logistics for transporting energy, as well as providing supply vessels services to drilling rigs and offshore platforms

• In 2010, SCF Group became the winner of Lloyd’s List Awards in the nomination Company of the Year.