Yesterday, the Stena Imperator, side-by-side with her sister the Stena Imprimis, were named at the Chinese shipyard GSI (Guangzhou Shipbuilding International) in Guangzhou in southeast China.
The two vessels are numbers 11 and 12 in a series of 13 identical IMOIIMAX-class tankers all ordered by Stena Bulk. The thirteenth and last IMOIIMAX tanker will be delivered in January next year. Both the now named vessels are owned by Stena Bulk.
The captain on board the Stena Imperator is Mikhail Kutuzov and Alexey Vaganov will serve as captain on board the Stena Imprimis. The Stena Imperator will be delivered next week and the delivery of the Stena Imprimis is expected to take place in about two months.
On her maiden voyage, the Stena Imperator will sail with a cargo of vegetable oil to Papa New Guinea and then to Rotterdam. The two tankers will be operated by Stena Bulk's Product and Chemical Operation and will sail in its global logistics system, which currently employs some 60 vessels.
IMOIIMAX is a further development of an already established concept, and the innovative technical design was developed by Stena Teknik together with the Chinese shipyard GSI. It offers several advantages such as extra large cargo flexibility, a high level of safety and economical fuel consumption – 10 to 20 per cent lower than that of equivalent vessels when sailing at service speed according to Stena Teknik.
The tankers have a length of 183 metres, a beam of 32 metres and a deadweight of 50,000 tonnes.