Jakarta: Indonesian oil and gas firm PT Pertamina has signed contracts with domestic shipyards worth an estimated $102m for the construction of six tankers. The tenders, which were announced three months ago, were secured by Dok dan Perkapalan Surabaya , PAL Indonesia, Daya Radar Utama and the Dumas Tanjung Perak Shipyard. The vessels are all scheduled to complete construction by 2012.

According to the Jakarta Post, PAL won a contract to build two 17,000dwt vessels worth around $49m, while DPS will build a 6,500dwt vessel with an investment of around $14.5m. DRU and Dumas won contracts to build 3,500dwt vessels with investments of around $12.8m for each vessel. Pertamina is also slated to order another 3,500dwt vessel at the same price, that is likely to be awarded to either DRU or Dumas.

Pertamina currently operates 170 tankers and expects to get 47 more tankers by 2014. In January, the company said it planned to buy 12 tankers at a total cost of $333m this year.

Source: seatrade asia