The Kuwait Oil Tankers Company (KOTC) has spent about 400 million dinars (about $1.3 billion) from 2000 to 2021 to develop the Kuwaiti tanker fl eet, reports Al- Anba daily quoting oil sources. The company currently owns a fleet of 32 giant crude oil tankers to transport oil derivatives and liquefied gas. The sources said the modernization of the tanker fleet has undergone several stages (four stages to be precise) to modernize and develop the fleet starting from 2004 until the middle of this year, in accordance with the needs of the global marketing sector at the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.
The sources added, the first phase of modernization of the fleet was from 2004 to 2008. During this phase, 9 new tankers of different sizes and types joined the fleet with a total tonnage of 1.1 million metric tons. The second phase was from 2008 to 2012, during which 6 new tankers of different sizes and types with a total tonnage of 1.4 million metric tons joined the fleet; the third phase was from 2011 to 2014 and 9 new tankers of different sizes and types were built with a total tonnage of 1.5 million metric tons; while fourth phase of the fleet modernization involved the addition of 8 new multi-purpose tankers and sizes to the tanker fleet from March 2019 and the deliveries continued until May 2021, including the Al-Siddiq tanker dedicated to transport crude oil and was built by the Chinese Bohai Heavy Industries Company. The modernization of the Kuwaiti oil tanker fleet is in line with Kuwait’s strategy to maintain a high level modern fleet to meet the requirements of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) as a strategic cover for the state. KOTC interacts with various parties from shipyards and sellers to classification companies and consultants, the fleet’s new construction projects team works to study the market, trends and new technologies in the shipbuilding industry.
KPC views the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company as a strategic cover for transporting Kuwaiti crude oil, Kuwaiti petroleum products and liquefied gas in case of emergency and crises outside the region (the Strait of Hormuz, after meeting local needs, including the needs of the Ministry of Electricity and Water). In the event of emergencies and crises, a situation that causes tanker owners to refuse to enter the Arabian Gulf region as a result of the exposure of Kuwait and its neighboring countries in the Gulf region to direct or indirect danger the KOTC fleet become the only alternative to transporting Kuwaiti exports outside the region. The cost of building one crude oil tanker is about 49.8 million dinars and the cost of building a liquefied gas tanker is about 23 million dinars. The lowest cost of building tanker to transport petroleum products is 5 million dinars and the maximum is 22 million dinars, depending on the size and capacity.
Source: Arab Times