The first 25 years
Since the establishment in 1982, Stena Bulk has built up one of the world’s strongest brand names in the shipping industry with an excellent reputation. Our in-house developed innovative MAX tankers are extremely successful. The safety concept includes, in addition to the mandatory double hull, two completely separate engine rooms and double propulsion and manoeuvring systems, i.e. just like the airline industry. All the MAX tankers are in high demand and have been signed to long term charters with major oil companies and traders even before the vessels being completed at the shipyard. In addition to being the safest vessels in the market, the MAX tankers can transport 30–40% more cargo than traditional tankers with the same draft. This gives our customers economy of scale.
Another good year
2008 was another operationally successful year for Stena Bulk, both financially and commercially. With one of its best ever trading results, the company is now entering a consolidation phase with a balanced fleet. Our managed fleet consists of around 70 tankers totalling 5.5 million deadweight tons. Given the current state of the world economy and the large deliveries of vessels from newbuilding yards, we are entering a calmer period with declining ship values and freight rates over the next years. Stena Bulk is well positioned wihtout any expensive vessels or long charter in contracts. At the same time, this offers the potential for new business deals, although at a completely different and lower entry level.
New MAX tankers
Together with Stena Teknik, we are developing new vessel types based on the Stena MAX concept. The Stena B-MAX, a tanker optimized for the Baltic Sea, will be able to transport 200,000 tons of oil, i.e. twice as much as the Aframax tankers, currently trading in the region.
Larger cargo capacity translates into fewer ships sailing in the Baltic Sea and through the Great Belt which reduces the risk in this region with high traffic volume. Safety goes hand in hand with the economy of scale offered by the Stena B-MAX and this makes the B-MAX project highly attractive both environmentally and financially.
Stena E-MAXair
With our latest design – the Stena E-MAXair (Europe-Environmental-Ecological) – we have taken one step further in all aspects. The tanker will run on pure LNG (liquid natural gas), making it the “cleanest” vessel ever. Compared with today’s tankers, the E-MAXair‘s emissions of CO2 and NOx will be 35% and 90% lower, respectively. Emissions of SOx will be zero and particle emissions will be reduced by a massive 99%. These figures say it all. In our environmentally focused society, the demands on efficient, safe and environmentally friendly transportation of oil and other fuels will only increase. This is a trend that suits Stena Bulk very well indeed. The Stena E-MAXair, tomorrow’s tanker, will have substantially lower bunker consumption than any other conventional vessel of the same size.
AirMAX concept
Stena is currently working on a new revolutionary design with new technology and has at the time of writing, early 2009, received patents covering this. We call this the Air- MAX concept. The technique giving bunker oil savings of up to 15% compared with a standard tanker of the same size will have a significant impact on naval architecture in the future. Initially, the air concept will be used for Stena E-MAXair with a deadweight of about 15,000 tons, of course with the same safety systems as the other tankers in the MAX family, i.e. all critical systems doubled – like commercial aircrafts. This concept can, and will, be applied to all the different sizes in all the tanker segments.
History, and the future
At Stena Bulk, we have always said that oil should travel first class. This is our code of honour and our promise to our customers. We take the environment with the utmost seriousness in the same way as we take responsibility for the places, coasts, untouched beaches and sensitive marine environments our ships pass on their voyages across the ocean not being polluted. The book “The History of Stena Bulk” describes how Stena Bulk was created, how it has been refined and how it has grown since it was formed 25 years ago. You can read about our roots, our tankers, our business deals, the commitment of our employees and the professionalism of our crews. Stena Bulk is not the largest shipping company in the world – but it is definitely one of the most innovative, responsible and interesting ones.