The chemical and product tanker Stena Weco Impulse, jointly owned on a 50-50 basis by Stena Bulk and the Danish Weco Group, has been delivered from the Chinese shipyard CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering (CSSC OME) in Guangzhou.
The IMOIIMAX tanker Stena Weco Impulse is the sixth in a series of 13 vessels ordered by Stena Bulk. She is now en route to several Indonesian ports where she will load vegetable oils after which she will sail to Barcelona and Rotterdam to discharge her cargo. The naming ceremony will take place in Copenhagen in June 2016.
All 13 IMOIIMAX tankers will sail in Stena Weco's global logistics system, which currently employs more than 60 vessels.
Stena Weco Impulse is equipped with 18 tanks, each with a capacity of 3,000 cubic meters, and can carry both vegetable oils and chemicals such as oil and petroleum products. The IMOIIMAX tankers have extra large cargo flexibility, high safety and low fuel consumption. The IMOIIMAX tanker is equivalent in size to a 50,000 dwt MR tanker.
"The Stena Weco Impulse is the first of two vessels, which we will jointly own with the Weco Group, and this will strengthen still further our very successful collaboration," said Erik Hånell, President and CEO Stena Bulk AB / CEO Stena Weco.
"Together with Stena Bulk, we have built up a fleet of more than 60 vessels, all of which sail in our advanced logistic system. The fact that we are now focusing on joint ownership is yet another step towards more far-reaching collaboration," said Johan Wedell Wedellsborg, Chairman of the Board, Weco Group.
"The IMOIIMAX model fits in very well with how we operate due to its extra large cargo flexibility. We are convinced that the vessels will play an important role in our joint fleet," added Johnny Schmølker, CEO Weco Shipping / COO Stena Weco.
The first five IMOIIMAX tankers have been delivered by January this year. Delivery of the remaining eight vessels will be completed by the end of 2017. Additionally, there is an option on a further two vessels.
Stena Teknik and the shipyard CSSC OME were jointly responsible for the technical development of the IMOIIMAX concept. The innovative design of the IMOIIMAX tankers means that, among other things, their fuel consumption at service speed is 10-20 percent lower than that of equivalent vessels.