A new 10,000-dwt product carrier specially built with a shallow draft was built at the Frisian Shipyard, Welgelegen in the Netherlands, and named Asprella. The double-hulled vessel, leased from Pritchard Gordon Tankers Ltd. and chartered by Shell, is purpose built for shallow draft trade, and will be employed by Shell for trade on South American Rivers for Shell's activities based in the Caribbean. "Asprella will enable Shell to continue developing its strenght in the niche product market for specailist vessels, thereby adding value to the bottom line," said Jeff Jarman, Shipping Portfolio Manager for Shell Trading, as quoted in the April edition of Shell's house magazine. Asprella was named by Elisabeth De Cuba, wife of John De Cuba, who was, until recently, G.M.
