Under the deal, Jacksonville, Fla.-based ocean carrier Crowley will purchase two tankers with a capacity of 800,000 barrels each and one tanker with a capacity of 342,000 barrels, the company confirmed Wednesday.
Crowley Alaska Tankers has signed an agreement to buy three tankers from ExxonMobil subsidiary SeaRiver Maritime and charter them back to SeaRiver under varying multi-year terms, Crowley confirmed Nov. 1.
Being purchased in the deal, Crowley said, are the tankers Liberty Bay and Eagle Bay, each of which has a capacity of 800,000 barrels and transport crude from Alaska to West Coast refineries; and the tanker SR American Progress, which has a capacity of 342,000 barrels and carries refined petroleum between U.S. Gulf and East Coast ports.
The closure of the deal, Crowley said, is dependent upon closure of the necessary regulatory approvals to serve the Alaska and West Coast markets.
“We anticipate a smooth transition with SeaRiver crews,” Crowley Vice President of Labor Relations Rudy Leming said.
Crowley Alaska Tankers is a new subsidiary of Crowley Petroleum Holdings, part of the Jacksonville, Fla.-based Crowley Maritime Corp. family of companies.
Crowley operates and manages one of the largest U.S.-flag petroleum and chemical tank vessel fleet in the country. By the end of 2017, the company says, it will be operating 37 Jones Act qualified large petroleum transportation vessels in the United States with a combined capacity of more than 10 million barrels.
In addition to the company’s own ATBs calling in Alaska, the company currently manages and crews tankers carrying petroleum between Alaska and the U.S. West Coast.
SeaRiver Maritime, headquartered in Spring, Texas, provides a wide range of technical and commercial marine services to ExxonMobil affiliates throughout the world. It is currently already chartering a tanker and an articulated-tug-barge (ATB) from Crowley.
Crowley to buy, lease back three SeaRiver tankers
