IZAR Tapped To Build Chem Tanker

The reinvention of the Spanish shipbuilding industry under the moniker IZAR as of earlier this year is apparently an immediate success, as news emanating from the organization show the group is winning a number of lucrative, and diverse, shipbuilding projects. IZAR has won a contract to construct a 22,700 cu. m. oil product chemical tanker for a Chilean shipowner. The tanker will be built at Gijon shipyard, northern Spain, where it will be equipped with 28 duplex stainless steel tanks able to carry over 800 IMO I and IMO II chemical cargoes as well as refined oil products. The vessel has been designed with double hull and double bottom in the way of the cargo tanks. The structure of the cargo area is unobstructed, based on vertically corrugated bulkheads and a reinforced upper deck on its outer side. Five of the transverse bulkheads are flat sandwich bulkheads with a cofferdam, which makes possible to carry cargoes at different temperatures. The tanker will be Det Norske Veritas (DNV) classified to +1A1 Tanker for Oil Products and Chemical Ship Type 1, ESP, EO, BIS, LCS, MV, NAUT C, NAUTICUS NEWBUILDING. The accommodation, planned to house 28 crew, has been designed to high standards, with 24 single cabins provided with its own modular bathroom. The main propulsion engine will be an IZAR MAN B&W 6550MC, giving a 9,480 kW output at 127 rpm, directly coupled to a controllable pitch propeller for a service speed of 15.5 knots at 90 percent MCR, with a 15 percent sea condition allowance and a tail shaft generator consumption of 150 kW at a 9.25 m draft. The tanks are designed for cargoes of up to 1.85 t/cu. m. densities. Cargo handling equipment will comprise 25 submerged hydraulic pumps with a 175 cu. m./h capacity and three portable pumps with a 300 cu. m./h capacity. Unloading will be simultaneously served by eight pumps. Tank cleaning will be secured by 50 stationary tank-washing machines. Cargo heating will be achieved by means of double circuit calls inside each tank and dry saturated steam. Inert gas will be provided by a 350 cu. m./h nitrogen generator with a 97% N2 purity. A 635kW variable pitch bow thruster, driven by an electric engine in conjunction with the FSF (Full Spade Flap) rudder, will provide an extremely high maneuverability. A central monitoring and control system will fully watch the engine room functions as well as cargo tank status and loading and unloading operations. The construction of this type of vessels is not a venture for Izar Gijon, as this yard has delivered seven chemical tankers of similar design in the past few years. Ultragas Internacional is a Chilean shipowner very active in the transport of liquefied gases between South America, the U.S. and the Caribbean.