NASSCO Delivers Final ECO Class Tanker

The MT Palmetto State and its sister ships are the most environmentally friendly tankers to enter the Jones Act trade. Photo: General Dynamics NASSCO

General Dynamics NASSCO has delivered the final ECO Class tanker constructed as part of an eight-tanker, dual-customer program.

The MT Palmetto State was delivered to long-time NASSCO customer, American Petroleum Tankers (APT), during a signing ceremony held at the NASSCO shipyard in San Diego on Wednesday.

In 2013, NASSCO entered into agreements with two companies, APT and SEA-Vista, LLC, to design and construct a total of eight 610-foot-long, 50,000 deadweight-ton, LNG-conversion-ready product tankers to include a 330,000 barrel cargo capacity each.

The Palmetto State and its sister ships are the most environmentally friendly tankers to enter the Jones Act trade. NASSCO says the tankers’ “ECO” design offers a 33 percent increased fuel efficiency and a corresponding reduction in ship emissions.

NASSCO shipbuilders constructed and delivered all eight ECO tankers in just under three years, helping the company achieve several first-time milestones, including a record throughput of 60,000 tons of steel per year and the delivery of six ships in 2016.

“The ECO Class tanker program pushed us to develop more efficient planning and production techniques, and fundamentally improved the way we perform every day,” said Kevin Graney, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. “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. Their dedication to continuous improvement was demonstrated by the hull-to-hull learning we saw over the course of the ECO Class program. I also thank American Petroleum Tankers and SEA-Vista, LLC for their partnership and confidence in NASSCO.”

NASSCO is the only major shipyard on the West Coast of the United States conducting design, construction and repair of commercial and U.S. Navy ships. In the past decade, NASSCO delivered more than 30 ocean-going ships to government and commercial customers—including the world’s first LNG-powered containerships. For its commercial work, NASSCO partners with South Korean ship designer, Daewoo Ship Engineering Company (DSEC), for access to state-of-the-art ship design and shipbuilding technologies.