Tankers

Hunter exercises option for three VLCCs

Baird Maritime
DSME will build the 336-metre by 60-metre VLCCs

Norway's Hunter Group has confirmed an order for three very large crude carriers (VLCC) at Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering (DSME) in South Korea.

The US$256.5 million contract was an option within a large-scale contract awarded earlier this year.

Outfitted with a scrubber, the 336-metre by 60-metre, 300,000DWT tankers will be fully compliant with the new IMO environmental regulations coming into force in January 2020.

The estimated delivery times are May 31, June 30 and August 31, 2020.

Under the agreement, Hunter Group also received three new options for identical vessels with an August 15 expiry date.

They are each priced at US$92 million, including scrubber, and are scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2021.