Kuwait Buys Oil Tanker from Hyndai

Kuwait and Korea signed on Tuesday a delivery contract for a giant oil tanker.

Korean Hyundai Heavy Industries Company will deliver Kathma 3 tanker of 333 meters long and 60 meters wide, with a capacity of two billion barrels.

Deputy Chairman of Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah said that tankers of such proportions and capacity would boost Kuwait's export capabilities with easy access to European and U.S. ports, thus accommodating exports to these areas.

Adding such tankers to Kuwait's fleet would boost KOTC's profits if oil prices remained at their current high for the next two years, Sheikh Salman noted.

The new tanker has commenced its 17-day trip from Ulsan Port ofKorea to Kuwait with a crew of nine technicians and 21 sailors. KOTC, a subsidiary company of the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), runs transportation business for Kuwait's oil exports. It has acquired nine tankers since 1992.