The tanker market changed in 2007 and the downturn in freight was both deeper and longer than anticipated. Following a strong spring, Stena Bulk nevertheless posted a reasonable operating profit for the full year and will in 2008 enter a consolidation phase with a manageable cost base for the tanker fleet and balanced contract cover. Stena Bulk’s controlled fleet of owned and managed vessels today consists of around 70 tankers totalling 6 million deadweight tonnes (dwt).
Russian oil from the Baltic
To meet the dramatically rising demand for Russian oil, Stena Bulk will invest in a fourth MAX tanker type, the Stena B-MAX. The tanker has a maximized draught and is specially developed for the Baltic’s special restrictions including ice in winter. The B-MAX will have a capacity to transport 200,000 tonnes of oil, i.e. twice as much as the Aframax tankers currently operating in the region.
Larger cargo capacity means fewer voyages and fewer tankers in the Baltic and through the Great Belt. It is important to develop this kind of vessel where safety goes hand-in-hand with lower fuel consumption per ton-kilometre. In addition, lower transport costs for customers as a result of advantages of scale is a very positive factor in the Stena B-MAX project.
Billion SEK investments
In autumn 2007, Stena Bulk acquired three MR product tankers, Stena Conquest, Stena Conqueror and Stena Concert with delivery set for February 2008. Stena has had the vessels on long-term charter since they were built (2003–2004) and they are earmarked for operation between the US and the Caribbean Islands. The vessels mainly transport refined petroleum products for US oil companies, including Chevron, with which Stena Bulk has had extensive collaboration for many years. The three 47,000 dwt tankers go under the designation Stena S-47, which indicates that they have very shallow draught and large load flexibility.
Collaboration with Sonangol, Angola
On 1 January 2008, the collaboration with Sonangol was crowned by the establishment of yet another tanker pool – this time with panamax tankers, i.e. tankers of around 75,000 dwt. The Stena Sonangol Panamax Pool will initially have five tankers and will, like the well-established Stena Sonangol Suezmax Pool with its 15 tankers, each of 160,000 dwt, be operated commercially from Stena Bulk’s office in Houston.
The collaboration also includes a certain exchange of personnel trained on board as well as personnel in the shore-based organizations. Angola continues to develop in a positive direction and could soon be the largest exporter of oil from West Africa.
Cooperation with schools
To safeguard the future requirement of competent officers who can sail vessels in extreme icy conditions, Stena Bulk sponsors the Admiral Makarov State Maritime Academy in St. Petersburg. The grants will mainly be used to establish a centre for training/education in navigation in icy waters.
Another project is a completely new marine school with a training centre in Angola, which is being planned together with Sonangol.
Stena has also sponsored Lighthouse Lindholmen, the maritime academy at Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg, for many years. The cooperation includes Stena helping young talent get their first practical experience within the Group, both at sea and at the head office in Göteborg.
It is very important for Stena to be able to contribute to the design of the education of future seafarers and our hope is that these schools will have a steady stream of applicants.
Stena Bulk 25 years
Since starting in 1982, Stena Bulk has built up an extraordinarily strong brand name with an excellent reputation. The core of its business is the innovative, in-house developed Stena MAX tanker, where the safety concept, besides the double hull, includes two completely separate engine rooms and double main engines and control systems, just like an aircraft – i.e. double systems for double safety. The vessel is also exceptionally wide, which means that it can transport 30–40% more cargo than a traditional vessel of the same draught.
This, coupled with working closely with customers and meeting their challenges, has made Stena Bulk a unique company with its own successful concept. More about this, as well as developments over the first 25 years, can be found in the 225 page anniversary book “The History of Stena Bulk” published in December 2007