Inland • Coastal • offshore • deepsea
Blackstone’s Jones act tanker Business bought by pipeline giant One Of the leading pipeline transportation and energy storage companies, Kinder Morgan Energ y Partners, L .P., Houston, TX, has entered into a definit ive a g re ement to ac qu i re A mer ic a n Petroleum Tankers (APT) and State Class Ta n kers (SC T) f rom a f f i l iate s of t he Blackstone Group and Cerberus Capital Management for $962 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter. Both APT and SCT operate in the Jones Act trade. APT’s current f leet is made up of five medium-range Jones-Act qualified product tankers—each with 330,000 barrels of cargo capacity. The vessels, operated by Florida-based Crowley Maritime Corporation, have long-term time charters with high quality counterparties, including oil companies, refiners and the U.S. Navy. And each has an average remaining charter term of four years. Meanwhile, SCT has four medium-range Jones Act product tankers under construction at General Dynamics NASSCO. Scheduled for delivery in 2015 and 2016,
the tankers will each be operated on longterm charters with a major integrated oil company. Each of the time charters has an initial term of five years, with renewal options to extend the initial term by up to three years. Kinder Morgan will invest $ 214 mi l lion to complete t he vessels’ construction. “This is a strategic and complementary extension of our existing crude oil and refined products transportation business,” says John Schlosser, President of KMP’s Terminals segment. “Product demand is growing and sources of supply continue to change, in part due to the increased shale activity. As a result, there is more demand for waterborne transportation to move these products. We are purchasing tankers that provide stable fee-based cash flow through multi-year contracts with major credit worthy oil producers.” “Blackstone and Cerberus are pleased to have founded and built American Petroleum Tankers into a market-leading Jones Act tanker company,” says Sean Klimczak, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone.
Fincantieri lays Viking star’s keel last May, Viking Cruises, a leader in the river cruising market, announced it was ready to take a dip in larger waters launching Viking Ocean Cruises. The operator awarded a contract to Fincantieri’s Marghera, Italy, shipyard for the construction of the company’s first ever cruise ship, the 227m Viking Star. Right before Christmas last month, the shipyard laid the keel for the 930-passenger ship. The ship will be delivered in early 2015. At the time of Viking Ocean’s launch, Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking Cruises, said the goal was to bring cruising’s focus back to the destination. “It is our view that in the race to build bigger ships, many cruise lines have lost sight of the destinations to which they sail,” he said. “With our new ocean cruises, we are applying the same principles behind our award-winning river cruises to our itinerary and ship design; privileged-access excursions; and onboard experiences to make destinations the true focus.”
Insist on Strong Ties
Vessel owners deserve constant, predictable, and trustworthy business relationships. Anything less just doesn’t work. At Continental Underwriters, creating strong ties with our maritime clients and agents has lead to our ability to respond quickly, professionally, and effectively during any time of need. With over 40 years of service, we’ve learned that strong ties mean better outcomes.
2235 N. Highway 190 | Covington, LA 70433 | 985.898.5300 | www.cultd.com January 2014 MARINE LOG 11