Crowley Maritime Corp.’s
petroleum and chemical transportation group has purchased two new Jones Act tankers,
the Pennsylvania
and the Florida, from vessel construction company Aker Philadelphia Shipyard.
The tankers, scheduled for delivery in September 2012 and March 2013, mark Crowley’s
re-entry into the Jones Act tanker market since its last tanker was retired in 2011.
“This is yet another example
of our on-going investments in new equipment and technology to meet the current
and future needs of our customers,” Crowley’s Chairman, President and CEO, Tom Crowley,
said.
The company says the tankers
will be capable of carrying nearly 330,000 barrels of a wide variety of petroleum
products and chemicals and they’ll operate in the US coastwise trade.
The US-flagged vessels are
the 13th and 14th in the Veteran Class built at Aker. With a length of 183.2 meters,
a breadth of 32.2 meters, and a depth of 18.8 meters, the tankers come in at 45,800
deadweight tons with a draft of 12.2 meters.
Powered by the first Tier
II large-bore engines, MAN-B&W 6S50MCs, the speed of the Pennsylvania
and the Florida is expected to average better than 14.5 knots.
“Putting these vessels into
service continues our commitment to offering a wide variety of solutions for the
safe and reliable transportation of petroleum products and chemicals for our customers,”
Rob Grune, Crowley’s senior vice president and general manager of petroleum services,
said.
Crowley has a long history
of transporting petroleum products and chemicals by tanker and articulated tug
and barge, or ATB. Until 2011, the company owned and operated Jones Act product
tankers that carried petroleum products and chemicals.
Crowley says that as of 2013,
it will own and operate 17 ATBs, including 155,000-barrel, 185,000-barrel and 330,000-barrel
capacity tank vessels.
