Motia Takes Two New Tankers

Venice-based tanker operator Motia Compagnia di Navigazione has taken delivery of two state of the art 35,000 dwt IMO Type II chemical/product tankers. The vessels, named Alice and Aurora, were built by Korea's STX Shipbuilding Co and will enter service with the Handytankers pool. Antonio Zacchello, managing director of Motia, says, "We are proud to welcome these two new vessels to our fleet. Our $700m newbuilding program includes nine more product tankers from China, ranging from 38,000 dwt up to 74,000 dwt, two panamax bulk carriers from Japan and three more aframaxes from China - all due for delivery between 2007 and 2009. At the end of the newbuilding programme the Zacchello Group will be controlling about 62 ships including a fleet of 16 long-term time chartered ships, in addition to 50 per cent of the ten SynerGas gas carriers." The Italian-flag Alice and Aurora will be managed from Venice by Motia. The 180 m LOA vessels have six pairs of coated cargo tanks with a total cargo capacity of 45,000 cu m served by twelve single stage submerged hydraulic self-stripping centrifugal pumps providing a total discharge capability of 2,700 cu m/hr with six segregations. The STX MAN B&W 6S50MC-C main engine provides 10,965 BHP at 85% MCR to give a service speed of 14.6 knots.