TEN welcomes its first LNG-powered Aframax tanker

Greek shipping company Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) has taken delivery of its first newbuild LNG-powered Aframax tanker.

According to TEN, the Njord DF vessel is the first in a series of four high-spec eco-designed vessels built against long-term employment to a major European state-owned oil concern.

The company ordered six LNG-powered tankers – four Aframax crude oil carriers and two optional LR2 petroleum product carriers – at South Korean shipyard Daehan Shipbuilding back in 2021. At the time, it was the largest contract in the shipyard’s history.

TEN expects the gross revenues from this four-vessel industrial program to reach $520 million should all extension options get exercised.

“We are both excited and honored to take on-board such a high-end green vessel against long-term employment to a globally renowned environmentally sensitive group. The choice of TEN to build and operate such state-of-the-art vessels is a testament to the company’s experience and operational excellence in not only optimally operating modern vessels over the decades but also in efficiently managing the construction phase while safeguarding a timely delivery,” said George Saroglou, President & COO of TEN.

“We look forward to welcoming the second such vessel in the next few weeks while maintaining TEN’s fleet modernity and green transition going forward.”

The delivery of the first vessel is part of the company’s existing green growth program with nine remaining vessels expected to be gradually introduced to TEN’s fleet over the next ten quarters.

Recently, TEN signed construction contracts for two scrubber-fitted MR product tankers. These 50,000 dwt vessels, ordered in August from an unnamed shipbuilder, are slated for delivery in the first quarter of 2026.