KNOT Offshore Partners LP (KNOT) owns, operates, and acquires shuttle tankers under long-term charters. KNOT Offshore Partners GP LLC operates as the general partner of the company.
On September 3, 2024, the company acquired KNOT Shuttle Tankers 31 AS, the company that owns the shuttle tanker, the Tuva Knutsen, from KNOT.
On September 3, 2024, the company sold KNOT Shuttle Tankers 20 AS, the company that owns the shuttle tanker, the Dan Cisne, to KNOT.
On March 3, 2025, the company acquired K...
KNOT Offshore Partners LP (KNOT) owns, operates, and acquires shuttle tankers under long-term charters. KNOT Offshore Partners GP LLC operates as the general partner of the company.
On September 3, 2024, the company acquired KNOT Shuttle Tankers 31 AS, the company that owns the shuttle tanker, the Tuva Knutsen, from KNOT.
On September 3, 2024, the company sold KNOT Shuttle Tankers 20 AS, the company that owns the shuttle tanker, the Dan Cisne, to KNOT.
On March 3, 2025, the company acquired KNOT Shuttle Tankers 27 AS, the company that owns the shuttle tanker, the Live Knutsen, from KNOT.
On March 3, 2025, the company sold KNOT Shuttle Tankers 21 AS, the company that owns the shuttle tanker, the Dan Sabia, to KNOT.
As of March 27, 2025, the company had a fleet of eighteen shuttle tankers.
As of December 31, 2024, the company had a fleet of eighteen shuttle tankers, the Windsor Knutsen, the Bodil Knutsen, the Recife Knutsen, the Fortaleza Knutsen, the Carmen Knutsen, the Hilda Knutsen, the Torill Knutsen, the Dan Sabia, the Ingrid Knutsen, the Raquel Knutsen, the Tordis Knutsen, the Vigdis Knutsen, the Lena Knutsen, the Brasil Knutsen, the Anna Knutsen, the Tove Knutsen, the Synnøve Knutsen and the Tuva Knutsen, each referred to as a ‘Vessel’ and, collectively, as the ‘Vessels’. The Vessels operate under fixed charter contracts to charterers, with expiration dates between 2025 and 2027.
The vessels in the company’s fleet are chartered to Brazil Shipping I Limited, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell (‘Shell’), Equinor ASA (‘Equinor’), Fronape International Company, a subsidiary of Petrobras Transporte S.A. (‘Transpetro’), Repsol Sinopec Brasil, S.A., a subsidiary of Repsol Sinopec Brasil, B.V., combined with Repsol Trading S.A. (‘Repsol’), Chartering and Shipping Service S.A., a subsidiary of TotalEnergies (‘TotalEnergies’), Eni Trading and Shipping S.p.A. (‘Eni’) and SeaRiver Maritime LLC, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil (‘ExxonMobil’) as of March 27, 2025.
The company intends to leverage the relationships, expertise, and reputation of KNOT, a leading independent owner and operator of shuttle tankers, to pursue potential growth opportunities, and to attract and retain high-quality, creditworthy customers. As of March 27, 2025, KNOT and the company's general partner owned the general partner interest, all the company's Class B Units, and 28.6% of the company's common units. KNOT intends to utilize the company as its primary growth vehicle to pursue the acquisition of long-term, stable cash-flow-generating shuttle tankers.
Strategy
The key elements of the company’s strategy are to manage its fleet and deepen its customer relationships; pursue strategic and accretive acquisitions of shuttle tankers on long-term, fixed-rate charters; and expand global operations in high-growth regions.
Customers
For the year ended December 31, 2024, subsidiaries of Shell, Equinor, Transpetro, Repsol, KNOT, and TotalEnergies accounted for approximately 24%, 17%, 14%, 13%, 9%, and 8%, respectively, of the company's revenues. Petrorio, Eni, Altera Shuttle Loading AS, BP Oil International Ltd., and China Offshore Oil (Singapore) accounted for the company's remaining revenues.
Charters
The company generates revenues by charging customers for the hire of its vessels and for services related to the loading, transportation, and discharge of their crude oil using the vessels in the company's fleet. The company mainly provides all of these services under time charters and bareboat charters; however, some of the company's vessels operated on spot voyages in 2024 and 2023.
As of March 27, 2025, all eighteen of the company's shuttle tankers are chartered under time charters.
Ship Management and Maintenance
Under the company's time charters, the shipowner is responsible for the technical management of the vessel and for maintaining the vessel, periodic drydocking, cleaning, and painting, as well as performing work required by regulations. KNOT Management and KNOT Management Denmark provide these services to the company's subsidiaries for all the company's vessels under time charters. However, Transpetro has elected to subcontract the technical operation and management of the Dan Sabia to an affiliate of KNOT.
Safety, Management of Ship Operations and Administration
KNOT, through certain of its subsidiaries, assists the company and its operating subsidiaries in managing the company's ship operations. DNV GL, a Norwegian classification society, has approved KNOT’s safety management system, which has been implemented on all the company's ships, as complying with the IMO’s International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and Pollution Prevention (the ISM Code), International Standards Organization (ISO) 9001 for Quality Assurance, ISO 14001 for Environmental Management Systems, and OHSAS 18001 for Occupational Health and Safety Management System. As part of KNOT’s ISM Code compliance, all the vessels’ safety management certificates are being maintained through ongoing internal audits performed by KNOT’s certified internal auditors and external audits performed by DNV GL or the respective flag state.
Environmental and Other Regulation
IMO regulations relating to pollution prevention for oil tankers have been adopted by many of the jurisdictions in which the company's tanker fleet operates. All of the company’s tankers are of double-hull construction.
SOLAS and other IMO regulations concerning safety, including those relating to treaties on the training of shipboard personnel, lifesaving appliances, radio equipment, and the global maritime distress and safety system, are applicable to the company's operations.
The requirements contained in the ISM Code govern the company’s operations. Each of the existing vessels in the company’s fleet is MLC 2006-certified, and the company expects to obtain MLC 2006 certificates for each newbuild upon delivery. MARPOL Annex VI also establishes three tiers of stringent nitrogen oxide emissions standards for new marine engines, depending on their date of installation. All of the company’s vessels are in compliance with these requirements.
The company has installed ballast water treatment systems on all the company’s vessels to comply with the requirements of the BWM Convention.
All of the company’s vessels have received ‘Blue Cards’ from their P&I club and are in possession of a CLC State-issued certificate attesting that the required insurance coverage is in force.
The company’s shuttle tankers operate in the North Sea and offshore Brazil.
In addition to the regulations imposed by the IMO those countries having jurisdiction over North Sea areas impose further regulatory requirements on operations in those areas, including Maritime and Coastguard Agency regulations in the United Kingdom and Norwegian Maritime Directorate regulations in Norway.
The company has installed the VOC control equipment required to operate on the Norwegian continental shelf on each of the Fortaleza Knutsen, the Recife Knutsen, the Windsor Knutsen, the Hilda Knutsen, the Torill Knutsen, and the Ingrid Knutsen. The company has installed an advanced VOC recovery system on the Bodil Knutsen.
The company has complied with the U.S. Coast Guard regulations by using self-insurance for certain vessels and obtaining financial guaranties from a third party for the remaining vessels. In addition, the company conducts regular oil spill response drills in accordance with the guidelines set out in OPA 90. KNOT has implemented the various security measures addressed by the MTSA, SOLAS, and the ISPS.
History
KNOT Offshore Partners LP, a publicly traded limited partnership, was founded in 2013.