Altera Infrastructure lets go of Altera Shuttle Tankers

November 6, 2024, by Sara Kosmajac

Altera Infrastructure Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the UK-based energy services provider Altera Infrastructure, has entered into an agreement to sell all of its membership interests in Altera Shuttle Tankers to Maistros Shiptrade, a company affiliated with the Greek shipping major Angelicoussis Group.

As disclosed, the transaction is expected to be completed once all relevant regulatory approvals are granted, with a projected date in the first half of 2025.

Altera Shuttle Tankers has been operating 18 shuttle tankers across Brazil, Canada and the North Sea.

The Angelicoussis Group, on the other hand, is said to be “one of the world’s largest” privately owned shipping groups, currently with 144 vessels on the water and 23 vessels on order, including three shuttle tankers, eight Suezmax tankers and 12 large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.

According to London-based data provider VesselsValue, among the 23 on-order ships, 12 are set to join compatriot Maran Gas Maritime’s fleet, whilst the remaining 11 will join Maran Tankers.

With the latest alignment between the two entities, the resulting ‘combined shuttle tanker operation’ is expected to become ‘one of the largest’ global fleets in its segment, Altera Infrastructure stated.

“We believe that under new ownership, this segment will continue to grow, supported by a strong strategic vision and deep industry expertise. While we move through this transition, our focus remains on delivering safe and reliable operations and ensuring a seamless handover,” Duncan Donaldson, Acting CEO of Altera Infrastructure, added.

To remind, earlier this year, Altera Infrastructure disposed of ALP Maritime Group, a Dutch provider of ocean towing, offshore positioning and mooring of floating platforms, heavy transport, and salvage operations.

As explained, the divestment of ALP Maritime Group with all of its subsidiaries was done as part of Altera Infrastructure’s strategy to place greater focus on its core segments – particularly the FPSO and shuttle tanker operations.

Moreover, this was said to pave the way for the firm to prepare for investment in the Stella Maris carbon capture and storage (CCS) project—a partnership between Altera and Wintershall Dea Norge—which received an exploration license in March 2023 for carbon dioxide storage on the Norwegian continental shelf in the North Sea.

In October this year, Altera and oil and gas company Harbour Energy bagged up to €225 million (circa $241.8 million) in funding from the EU Innovation Fund for what is considered to be the “world’s first large-scale solution” for CO2 sequestration using ‘shared and flexible’ offshore infrastructure.

As explained, the STARFISH (Sequestration Technology And Reservoir: Floating Injection and Storage in Havstjerne) project is part of the broader Stella Maris CCS initiative, allowing captured emissions from multiple sources to be stored in the Havstjerne reservoir, located 100 kilometers southwest of Egersund in Norway.