Military Sealift Command charters tankers

Military Sealift Command charters tankers U.S. Shipping Partners L.P. said it will charter two tankers it has under construction in California to the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command.
   The Edison, N.J.-based company said the initial charter will be for 12 months at a cost of about $51 million. The Navy then has options to extend the charters via three one-year options and a further 11-month option, which if exercised would raise the cost to about $220 million.
   The ships will be deployed globally to transport petroleum products in support of U.S. military forces. They will replace government-owned T-5 tankers that are expected to reach the end of their service life in 2010.
   The ships, due for delivery to the Navy in late 2010 and early 2011, are part of a series of nine 49,000-deadweight-ton tankers on order at San Diego’s National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. U.S. Shipping Partners fixed the first of this series of vessels to BP in December 2006.