Tuesday, the Stena Imperator side by side with her sister the Stena Imprimis were named at the Chinese shipyard GSI (Guangzhou Shipbuilding International) in Guangzhou in southeast China. The two vessels are nos. 11 and 12, in a series of 13 identical IMOIIMAX tankers all ordered by Stena Bulk. The 13th and last IMOIIMAX tanker will be delivered in January next year. Both the now named vessels are owned by Stena Bulk.
It was a hot summer day when the hundred or so guests from all over the world gathered on the quayside for the solemn double naming ceremony. The two proud godmothers – for the Stena Imperator, Ylva Syrén Carlsson and for the Stena Imprimis, Denise Baum – as tradition dictates, wished the vessels, their captains and crews fortune and prosperity on the seven seas and swung the bottles of champagne against the tankers’ bows.
“It was a spectacular sight with the two sister tankers beside each other and the somewhat unusual situation as such made the naming ceremony a bit special and extra festive. We are now approaching the final delivery of our large order consisting of 13 IMOIIMAX tankers. We are very proud of and satisfied with our fleet, which now consists of ten units in operation. Both the technical and the commercial concept have proved to be very successful”, says Erik Hånell, President & CEO, Stena Bulk.
The captain on board the Stena Imperator is Mikhail Kutuzov and Alexey Vaganov will serve as captain on board the Stena Imprimis. The Stena Imperator will be delivered next week and the delivery of the Stena Imprimis is expected to take place in about two months. On her maiden voyage, the Stena Imperator will sail with a cargo of vegetable oil to Papa New Guinea and then to Rotterdam. The two tankers will be operated by Stena Bulk’s Product and Chemical Operation and will sail in its global logistics system, which currently employs some 60 vessels.
Traditionally, the shipowner, in conjunction with the naming ceremony, makes a donation to the shipyard to be used in a suitable project. In this case, USD 15,000 were donated to GSI’s shipyard workers as well as USD 15,000, half of which was donated to a nursing home and half to a Kindergarten, both related to GSI.
Facts - the IMOIIMAX concept
IMOIIMAX is a further development of an already well-established concept and the innovative technical design was developed by Stena Teknik together with the Chinese shipyard GSI. It offers several advantages such as extra large cargo flexibility, a high level of safety and economical fuel consumption – 10-20% lower than that of equivalent vessels when sailing at service speed.
The tankers have a length of 183 metres, a beam of 32 metres and a deadweight of 50,000 tons.
Source: StenaBulk