Enoc orders vessels from Dubai Drydocks

Emirates National Oil Company Group LLC of Dubai has commissioned Dubai Drydocks to build four 6,200 tonne tankers for its shipping subsidiary, the company's CEO said.

"This is a major new-build programme for our bunkering operations and for Dubai Shipping Company [DSC], our subsidiary. It is appropriate that these state-of-the-art vessels will be built here in the UAE," said Hussain Sultan, Emirate National Oil Company Group's (Enoc) CEO. "These are highly environmentally friendly vessels and will replace older bunkering tankers that were built in the 1980s," he said.

The 102 metre-long tankers will be double hulled, twin propulsion vessels, with bow thrusters for added manoeuvrability. The contract has a total value of about Dh150 million. This is the first time the Enoc Group has ordered new vessels from a local shipbuilder. They will be the first large double hull tankers to be constructed in the UAE.

"The contract was put out to international competitive tender and Dubai Drydocks beat competition from Singapore, China and Indonesia," Sultan said.

Sultan and Taylor signed a contract for the project at Enoc House in Dubai.

The project is being managed by Gulf Energy Maritime (GEM), on behalf of DSC. Enoc is one of GEM's shareholders.