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Crowley Alaska Tankers, part of the Crowley Maritime Corporation, has signed an agreement to purchase three tankers from SeaRiver Maritime, ExxonMobil’s U.S. marine affiliate, and charter them back to SeaRiver under varying multi-year terms.

The deal is, however, subject to regulatory approval.

“Key to ensuring the success of this transaction and ongoing operations will be obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals to serve the Alaska and West Coast markets. Crowley will work together with regulators to ensure a seamless transition and continued safe operations,” the company said

The tankers in question are Liberty Bay and Eagle Bay, each of which have a capacity of 800,000 barrels and transport crude from Alaska to West Coast refineries; and the tanker SR American Progress, which has a capacity of 342,000 barrels and transports refined petroleum between U.S. Gulf and East Coast ports.

“We have an excellent safety record, which we intend to uphold,” said Rob Grune, Crowley senior vice president and general manager, petroleum services.

“Last year, for example, we transported 410 million barrels of product and made 4,868 product transfers with zero spills to environment – a credit to our professional, safety-minded crews and management systems.”

“We anticipate a smooth transition with SeaRiver crews, and look forward to personally welcoming them to the Crowley team,” said Rudy Leming, Crowley vice president of labor relations.

By the end of 2017, Crowley will be operating 37 Jones Act qualified large petroleum transportation vessels in the United States with a combined capacity of more than 10 million barrels. Among this tank vessel fleet are a tanker and an articulated-tug-barge (ATB) already on charter to SeaRiver.