General Dynamics NASSCO has christened the third ECO-class tanker for Sea-Vista LLC, a joint venture between Seacor Holdings Inc. and Avista Capital Partners.
The 610’ 50,000-dwt, LNG-conversion-ready tanker Liberty is designed to achieve 33% increased fuel efficiency through several features, including a G-series MAN ME slow-speed main engine and an optimized hull form. The ship was designed by DSEC, a subsidiary of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Busan, South Korea.
The Liberty, christened Dec. 17 at NASSCO’s San Diego shipyard, is part of an eight-tanker Jones Act program underway for two separate customers. Sisterships Independence and Constitution were delivered to Sea-Vista earlier this year. The other ships in the program were built for American Petroleum Tankers, a subsidiary of Houston-based Kinder Morgan.
“With this program we contracted with two customers seeking similar capabilities. A steady production run of eight ships improves hull-to-hull learning and has allowed us to deliver increasingly higher-quality, world-class vessels,” Kevin Graney, vice president and general manager for General Dynamics NASSCO, said upon the delivery of the Constitution in November.
“The tankers will play a key role in offering Sea-Vista’s customers the most modern and fuel efficient vessels available as they address their Jones Act transportation requirements for the movement of their current and projected crude oil and refined product volumes in the U.S.,” Sea-Vista said in a statement.
