“Both Russian and Baltic ports are expanding their capacity for handling petroleum products, often transported by pipeline from the Russian oilfields. These Russian oil exports will fuel a demand for tankers, which not only have a good cargo capacity but also have a sufficiently shallow draught to enable them to sail through the Great Belt, in addition to being designed and operated according to a completely new safety philosophy”, says Lars Carlsson, President of Concordia Maritime AB – the Stena company responsible for the management of the Stena Calypso.
Lars Carlsson estimates that the volumes transported by tanker through the Baltic Sea could double in the next five years. The question is which ships, and with what safety standard, will be selected in this expanding market. There could be money to be made by selecting unscrupulous operators, which mismanage their ships and are often classed by societies that do not take the seaworthiness requirements seriously. Some of the worst oil accidents in recent years have just this profile.
Environmental stimulus
“It is important that we create a stimulus for the market to see the problems and dare to select the right partners”, says Lars Carlsson. He is worried about the present stagnant freight market since it could tempt yards to build tankers on the cheap and with far too narrow safety margins. But even sudden booms can tempt operators to making a killing by offering substandard tonnage in an overheated market – a development that could constitute a serious threat to the environment in e.g. the Baltic Sea.
The shipowners naturally play a leading role in the safety work. The international shipowner organisation Intertanko, with Lars Carlsson as chairman, plans to introduce “The Environmental Challenge”, an award which will go to organisations or individuals that tackle in a serious and ambitious manner the environmental challenges facing the industry.
More cargo pays for safety
Double hulls have dominated the debate on tanker accidents in recent years and the Stena Calypso, of course, has a double hull. But the view at Stena is that it would be unfortunate if the discussion focused solely on measures after an accident has occurred. On the Stena Calypso, a lot of effort has gone into preventing groundings and collisions from happening.
An important safety factor is that critical functions are doubled and that on the bridge, navigation instruments and manoeuvre controls are integrated and arranged to provide the crew with both the best possible information for decisions and optimum control.
The vessel is extremely manoeuvrable thanks to two propellers, which can be rotated 360°, and a bow thruster – thus reducing the risk of groundings and collisions.
How, then, will Stena be able to make a profit by transporting freight at reasonable rates with a specially built environmental tanker which has costly extra built-in safety such as the Stena Calypso.
Björn Södahl, quality, safety and the environmental manager at Concordia Maritime and Stena Bulk, does not seem to be worried about the financial aspect.
“The Stena Calypso has a wider beam than a conventional tanker with the equivalent cargo capacity normally has”, he says. This means that it has a shallower draught than normal but also a larger cargo capacity, which can be said to finance the extra cost of safety. The Stena Calypso will be able to offer competitive freight rates. In addition, employment for the C-MAX tankers has been secured for the first seven years through long-term charters with Chevron Texaco, Stena Bulk’s cooperation partner.
17 different cargoes at the same time
Another feature, which will make the C-MAX tankers – which is the type designation of the Stena Calypso and her sister the Stena Caribbean – attractive is their cargo flexibility. The vessels can handle 17 different types of cargo, including 1,300 m3 of liquid gas, and 12,500 m3 of petroleum products. The cargo tanks are coated with epoxy, which facilitates cleaning and switching from one product to another.
The Stena Calypso will now sail to the Caribbean archipelago where she and her sister, the Stena Caribbean, will form a transport system for Chevron Texaco equivalent to four conventional tankers.
Wide, safe ships – an investment for the future for Stena
The two C-MAX Class vessels are designed for short-distance, efficient transportation of petroleum products and gas. Stena’s listed company, Concordia Maritime, has owned the 314,000 DWT V-MAX tankers Stena Vision and Stena Victory for more than a year. These two very large vessels were built according to the same concept – wide, with a large cargo capacity and double safety. These large tankers are signed to charters with Sun Oil for service between West Africa and the environmentally sensitive Delaware River in the US.