South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries has laid keel for Teekay's first shuttle tanker newbuilding intended for the East Coast Canada (ECC) project.

The milestone marks the end of the block building period as well as the beginning of the next phase – completion of the newbuilding with all its systems.

The shuttle tanker "Beothuk Spirit" is expected to be delivered this August.

This shuttle tanker is the first of three newbuildings to be provided for loading crude at Hibernia, Terra Nova, White Rose and Hebron offshore oil fields located in St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador.

Construction on all three shuttle tankers has commenced with the first vessel now 65% complete and construction on the third vessel just underway.

These three vessels, which have a total cost of approximately US$375m, are scheduled to deliver during the second half of 2017 and first half of 2018.