Africa-Press – Seychelles. The Seychelles Petroleum Company (SEYPEC) will replace two of its four medium-range oil tankers with new, more advanced vessels in the coming years, said a senior official.
This follows last Wednesday’s approval by the Council of Ministers last Wednesday of SEYPEC’s strategic plan SEYPECto replace its aging fleet of oil tankers with new technologically advanced vessels.
SEYPEC Managing Director Sarah Romain told SNA that SEYPEC would sell its four ships on a step-by-step basis and would arrange to buy two new ones.
“Next year, two of our tankers will be 20 years old and most charterers transporting oil tend to avoid using tankers older than 20 years, because they are not as efficient as the newer ones, which is why we want to replace these ships, to ensure that we can maintain our operations in the high-end market with major charterers around the world,” said Ms. Romain.
She explained that older ships are less reliable, consume more fuel, have higher operational costs and have a higher carbon footprint, which means that by acquiring newer oil tankers, our operations will be more profitable.
Ms. Romain explained that the four oil tankers will be sold in stages. Seychelles Pioneer will be divested this year, followed by Seychelles Progress in January 2025, while the other two, Seychelles Prelude and Seychelles Patriot, will be replaced by December 2026.
The two new ships are expected to be delivered in January and April 2027″, confirmed SEYPEC’s Chief Financial OfficerSEYPEC, Francis Racombo.
This means that SEYPEC will have only two tankers operating internationally, with the smallest Seychelles Paradise remaining operational in the region and in Seychelles waters.
These new oil tankers will be more efficient at first, as they will be able to use two types of fuel, such as methanol, which is a greener fuel, which can potentially emit less carbon,” she said.
Ms. Romain said that with the current EU rules, oil tankers are fined for their emissions, which can potentially reach up to USD 2 million per ship.
SEYPEC oil tankers are currently operated by German Tanker Ship (GTS), which is the ship management company that employs personnel, seeks contracts and maintains ships. Oil tankers are added to the GTS-owned oil tanker fleet to provide a wide range of career and progression opportunities for Seychelles sailors.
More than 100 Seychellois are currently employed by GTS, not only on SEYPEC oil tankers but also on GTS vessels.
‘Our oil tankers themselves, more than 50 percent of Seychellois are working on them, the rest being foreigners,’ said Ms. Romain.
According to the Director of SEYPEC, the tankers performed very well, with the fleet earning 18.5 million dollars from January to May 2024, representing an operating profit of 7.5 million dollars.
For More News And Analysis About Seychelles Follow Africa-Press
