photo: courtesy of CNOOC

First domestic made 15,000-ton shuttle oil tanker was delivered to China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) in Nantong, east China's Jiangsu Province, CNOOC announced on Wednesday. 

The tanker will be used for the condensate transportation of the Shenhai Yihao (DeepSea No. 1) gas field as early as August.

Dynamic positioning shuttle tanker is designed for use in the transportation of crude oil from offshore production platforms to the land, known as "floating tubing". 

The tanker marks the first dynamic positioning shuttle tanker independently built by China with a tonnage of 15,000-ton. 

Compared with standard tonnage tankers of 100,000 tons it is smaller just like "integrating the functions of an aircraft carrier into a submarine", according to CNOOC.

The tanker will not only fulfill the demand for transportation of crude oil but also quickly respond to the scheduling arrangement of production operations in the complex sea conditions and weather environment, said Li Jun, manager of the project.

After entering into a construction contract in November 2019, it only took 11 month to complete the construction of the ship despite the COVID-19, using only half the time compared with the same type of ship in the world. 

The delivery of the tanker is expected to provide valuable experience and reference for the construction of domestic dynamic positioning tankers and the development and utilization of deep-water oil and gas projects in the future, according to CNOOC.