Photo of the Week: Twin Tankers

The Stena Imperator and her sister the Stena Imprimis were named at Guangzhou Shipbuilding International in China this week. 

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. 

The IMOIIMAX technical design was developed by Stena Teknik together with the Chinese shipyard. It offers several advantages such as extra large cargo flexibility, a high level of safety and economical fuel consumption – 10-20 percent lower than that of equivalent vessels when sailing at service speed.

The tankers have a length of 183 meters (600 feet), a beam of 32 meters (105 feet) and a deadweight of 50,000 tons.

The captain of 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, while the Stena Imprimis is expected to be delivered 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, $15,000 was donated to shipyard workers and another $15,000 was shared between a nursing home and a Kindergarten.