Cornering the ULCC Niche
For an independent tanker owner to undertake a newbuild fleet development program amounting to 3-million tons of crude oil carrier capacity in itself demonstrates a high degree of business verve. But to emphatically put one's own stamp on the design, construction and equipping of such tonnage is an added expression of will, given the production-driven tendency in the industry towards shipyard-orientated and class-minimum specifications. Piraeus-based Hellespont Shipping Corp.'s commitment to a new generation of ultra large crude carriers (ULCCs) is exceptional on its own account, given the paucity of new investment in the category over the past quarter-century.
NSCSA Reports $31M Profit
The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA) reported a net profit of 115.7 million riyals ($30.85 million) in the first half of 2001 compared with a net loss of 16.8 million riyals a year earlier. Riyadh-based NSCSA also said in a statement that it would take delivery of four recently bought vessels by October 2002, raising its fleet to nine ships used to transport Saudi Arabian crude to the international market. "NSCSA and Hellespont Shipping Corporation are pleased to announce the purchase by NSCSA from Hellespont for $330 million of four double hull very large crude carriers," the Riyadh-based company said in a statement. Hellespont at Samsung Heavy Industry of South Korea and would be delivered betweenOctober 2001 and October 2002.
Hellespont Places Order With Samsung
Piraeus-based Hellespont Shipping Corp. has contracted Samsung Heavy Industries for the first two vessels in a new class of VLCC's. The contract also calls for the option to build two optional ships - with delivery beginning in the last quarter 2001. With a lightweight of 46,500-tons, the vessels will form a new standard for large tanker strength and speed - while equipped with various features. The ABS and LR-approved structures and scantlings will be 10 percent in excess of both rules. The vessels will be fitted with a 45,000-bhp main engine, about 6,500-hp above the largest engine that has been installed in a modern VLCC. These engines will provide the vessels with a loaded service speed of at least 17.2 knots.
