"Al Yarmouk" tanker joins KOTC fleet

KUWAIT, Aug 25 (KUNA) -- In a festive ceremony held Monday at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard, KOTCs CEO Sheikh Talal Al Ahmed Al Sabah officially received the new state of the art Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) "Al Yarmouk".
In a press statement, the KOTC said that the tanker-delivery ceremony was also attended by several DSME high ranking officials, a delegation from KOTC, comprising of the Deputy CEO for the Fleet Operations and KOTC Managers, and Ambassador of Kuwait to the Republic of Korea Ambassador Jassem Al-Bedaiwi.
"Al Yarmouk" is the third in a series of four new VLCCs to be built at DSME, where the fourth vessel "Al Kout" is expected to be delivered towards the end of October 2014.
Classed to Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), "Al Yarmouk" is 333 m in length, 60 m in breadth, and a draft (Summer) of 22.5m, having a cargo capacity of approximately 2.2 million barrels with a cruising speed of 16.2 knots.
The entering of "Al Yarmouk" into fleet service brings the total number of tankers operated by KOTC to 28 different tankers of various sizes and types to meet the strategic and marketing plans of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), where towards the end of this year the last two vessels of the Phase III fleet renewal program bringing the total number of tankers operated to 30.
The design of the Phase III Fleet Renewal Program vessels was made taking in consideration KOTC's policy, vision, and mission; which is "to operate ships, transporting and delivering cargo safely, efficiently, and promptly - protecting the environment while maintaining safe and healthy work conditions".
The hull form for these vessels has been enhanced and designed to optimize the water flow to the propeller, reducing the hydro-friction during vessel transit which in turn reduces fuel consumption and ultimately harmful emissions.
In addition these vessels are equipped with latest generation Tier II energy saving engines that are designed to reduce CO2 and NOx emissions, with the feature of using low sulphur fuels such as Marine Gas Oil (MGO) to reduce the SOx emissions. Furthermore, the four VLCCs and Aframax are also equipped with a Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) reduction system (De-VOC) which works by controlling and maintaining the pressure in the top of the loading pipeline above ambient pressure, minimizing the generations of VOCs especially at the initial stages of cargo loading - moreover controlling the VOC emissions during vessels transit generated due to weather change and sea conditions by the Vapor Emission Control System (VECS).
On top of the above, and in terms of the marine environment - KOTC has taken the initiative of installing Ballast Water Treatment Systems (BWTS) which is above international requirements.
The BWTS system uses filtration and UV technology to disinfect and treat the ballast water entering and leaving the ballast tanks, which in turn prevent alien microbial invasion of marine organisms to local waters that may lead to environmental disasters destroying the local marine eco-life.
Thus, KOTC in accordance with its policy and vision leads the way in environmental protection. (end) asj.tb.ibi