NASSCO delivers last of eight ‘ECO Class’ tankers

American Petroleum Tankers took delivery of the liquid bulk carrier Palmetto State, the last in a series of eight environment-friendly vessels built by West Coast shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO.

   West Coast shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO has delivered the final “ECO Class” tanker built as part of an eight-vessel, two-customer program, the company said in a statement.
   The Palmetto State was delivered to American Petroleum Tankers (APT), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, during a signing ceremony at the NASSCO shipyard in San Diego on June 7.
   NASSCO in 2013 entered into agreements with two companies, APT and SEACOR Holdings subsidiary SEA-Vista, LLC, to design and build a total of eight 610-foot-long, 50,000 deadweight-ton, LNG-conversion-ready product tankers – five for APT and three for SEA-Vista – each with a cargo capacity of 330,000 barrels.
   The shipyard constructed and delivered all eight ECO tankers in just under three years. Construction of the first of the three ships began in November 2014, and the final SEA-Vista vessel, the Liberty, was delivered in March.
   According to NASSCO, the Palmetto State and its sister ships are among the most environmentally friendly tankers to enter the Jones Act trade, as their design offers 33 percent increased fuel efficiency and a corresponding reduction in ship emissions, according to NASSCO.
   “The ECO Class tanker program pushed us to develop more efficient planning and production techniques, and fundamentally improved the way we perform every day,” General Dynamics NASSCO President Kevin Graney said.
   “I credit the success of this program to the thousands of hardworking men and women who contributed to the design, construction and delivery of these ships,” he added. “Their dedication to continuous improvement was demonstrated by the hull-to-hull learning we saw over the course of the ECO Class program.”
   In the past decade, NASSCO says it has delivered 29 ocean-going ships to government and commercial customers, including the world’s first LNG-powered containerships.