TotalEnergies will soon put in use the first LNG-powered very large crude carrier (VLCC) it has chartered from Malaysia’s AET.
The 300,000-dwt tanker, Eagle Valence, was unveiled at a virtual naming ceremony held at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Geoje, South Korea, according to a statement by AET, a unit of Malaysia’s MISC, on Thursday.
This is the first out of two dual-fuel VLCCs that will go on long-term charter agreement to TotalEnergies. AET and TotalEnergies signed the deal in April 2020.
Also, the vessel is TotalEnergies’ first LNG-powered VLCC, but also one of the world’s first dual-fuel vessels of its kind.
The vessel is 330 meters long and 60 meters wide.
AET said that Samsung Heavy should deliver Eagle Valence’s sister ship in the second quarter of 2022.
Luc Gillet, SVP of shipping at TotalEnergies, said in a separate statement that Eagle Valence is the first of a broader program of six newbuild tankers designed with LNG dual-fuel propulsion.
TotalEnergies expects to receive five additional LNG-powered ships between 2022 and 2023.