Stena Bulk in major deal with Neste Oil

Stena Bulk has sold 50 per cent of the tanker Stena Arctica to the Finnish oil company Neste Oil, which will also operate the vessel on a 10-year charter from 1 January, 2007 – mainly to transport oil from Primorsk to the Finnish port Porvoo in the Baltic. The 117,100 DWT Stena Arctica was delivered at the end of 2005 from the shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea and is the world’s largest tanker with the highest ice class (1A Super) currently in service.

“Together with our sister company Concordia Maritime, Stena Bulk has worked closely with Neste Oil for many years. Finland and Sweden are probably the two countries with the longest experience of shipping in icy waters and particularly in a capital-intensive industry such as shipping it is natural, and even necessary, to exchange experiences in order to be able to continue to develop in the future,” says Ulf G. Ryder, President of Stena Bulk. The Stena Arctica was named in January, this year, in the Port of Gothenburg and has since been deployed on the spot market transporting oil from Primorsk to Europe. Originally, the Stena Arctica had been booked for a long-term charter to a Russian company, but has now been replaced by her sisters Stena Antarctica and Stena Atlantica. Stena Bulk’s sister company Concordia Maritime, which is listed on the Nordic Exchange (former Stockholm Stock Exchange), and Neste Oil each own 50 per cent of the Stena Poseidon and the Neste Polaris, currently under construction in Croatia. These vessels will have a deadweight of 75,000 tons and are being built to ice class 1A specifications. The Stena Poseidon will be delivered at the end of 2006 and the Neste Polaris at the beginning of 2007. Both tankers have been contracted on long-term charters by Neste Oil. In 2008, Stena Bulk, together with Concordia Maritime, will operate a fleet of 12 large, ice-strengthened tankers. Facts: Stena Arctica: Length: 249.8 m, breadth: 44 m, draft: 15.4 m, deadweight: 117,100 tons, no. of cargo tanks: 7, cargo: crude oil. The hull is heavily reinforced and the vessel’s power output is substantially larger than that of a normal tanker in order to be able to operate safely in the icy waters of the Baltic. Ice class When ice forms on the water, the authorities impose restrictions on maritime traffic. Ships have to satisfy certain requirements in order to be eligible for icebreaking assistance. Swedish ships are built in accordance with joint Finnish and Swedish ice class regulations. In this system, the lowest ice class is 1C and the highest is 1A Super. The Stena Arctica is built in accordance with Ice Class 1a Super regulations, which means that she can sail under her own power through 1 metre thick ice.