Norway Sets Aside USD 165.5 Mn for Teekay Offshore’s Tankers

Teekay Offshore Partners has secured long-term financing from the Norwegian Government for four new shuttle tankers being built at South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI).

The new ECO-friendly vessels, scheduled for delivery in 2019/20, are all equipped with a technology developed by the maritime supplier Wärtsilä in cooperation with Teekay, resulting in zero volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions from the tankers.

Export Credit Norway and GIEK have provided loan and guarantee of USD 165.5 million on behalf of the Norwegian Government.

The financing is part of a larger syndicate involving several commercial banks and a foreign export credit agency. In addition, Enova, which contributes to Norway’s transition towards a low emission society, has granted subsidies of NOK 133 million (USD 15.2 million) to these four shuttle tankers.

“We are excited to have received long-term financing from the Norwegian Government for our latest generation of shuttle tankers. These vessels will be the most environmentally friendly shuttle tankers ever built,” Ingvild Saether, President & Chief Executive Officer, Teekay Offshore Group Ltd, said.

“What makes me particularly proud is that bunkering requirements and CO2 emissions will be reduced by approx. 50%, thereby reducing the environmental footprint of our operations significantly,” Saether added.

In April 2019, Teekay Offshore Partners said it secured USD 414 million long-term debt facility, funded and guaranteed by both Canadian and Norwegian export credit agencies and commercial banks, to finance the four LNG-fueled newbuildings.

Following delivery in 2019 and 2020, two of the Suezmax DP2 vessels would start working for Norwegian energy company Equinor, while the remaining two units would join Teekay Offshore’s contract of affreightment (CoA) shuttle tanker portfolio in the North Sea.