The unnamed new vessels will replace Coastal Oil Logistics Ltd's present vessels Torea and Kakariki, which have been transporting petroleum products from Marsden Point around the country for, respectively, the past eight and 17 years.
Their off loading in Dunedin has always been at the $3 million refurbished oil jetty in the upper harbour.
Kakariki's replacement, a 50,000 deadweight tonne products/bitumen tanker, will begin service in June 2017.
It is owned by ASP Ship Management Group (ASP) and leased by Coastal Oil Logistics, while Torea's replacement arrives in February next year.
Coastal's chief executive Jon Kelly said the new ships would be the most modern fleet of New Zealand operated vessels on the coast.
''They will be substantially more fuel efficient than the older vessels they replace, and there will be a large reduction in emissions as a result of that efficiency,'' he said in a statement yesterday.
Kakariki and Torea will be returned to their owners at the end of the current charter period.
