The second of four sister ships, built at Daewoo - Korea was delivered to owners this week. The first ship in the series, HELLESPONT ALHAMBRA, entered into service in March and the last two ships in the series - HELLESPONT FAIRFAX and HELLESPONT TARA to be delivered in the second half of 2002.
The Hellespont Shipping Corporation,with over 50 years of ship owning and management experience, specialized in the technical and commercial management of oil tankers is an international group devoted to the safe, efficient and environmentally friendly transportation of oil.

Within the last year, the group ordered 4 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC's) and 4 ULCC's newbuildings, placed at two of Koreas largest yards.

Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC's) and Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCC's) are the largest man-made moving structures ever constructed. These vessels have an important role in the global transportation of crude oil, due to their phenomenal cargo capacities. Today, VLCC's and ULCC's are generally considered the most efficient means of transporting large quantities of crude oil over long distances.

The principle trading routes for Hellespont's supertankers originate from the Arabian Gulf to the Red Sea, North Western Europe and the Gulf of Mexico. Oil exports from the Middle East have historically dominated the demand for tankers due to long distances to the main consuming regions.

The size of these vessels permits significant cost benefits for charterers in the transportation of crude oil, which are maximised over long-haul routes.

Built at Korea's Daewoo yard to LR and ABS class, the vessels elevate standards for large tanker strength and speed and will have a number of unusual features, including full-time inerting of the ballast spaces for safety and corrosion protection.

As delivered the principal particulars are:

441, 893 dwt

loa 380 m

beam 68 m

draught 24.5 m

cargo capacity 513,684 cu m.

The engine is an HSD-Sulzer 9RTA84T-D, delivering 50,220 BHP at 76 rpm, giving a ballast speed of 17.5 knots.