Batillus-class supertanker


The Batillus-class supertankers was a class of supertanker ships built in France at the end of the 1970s. Four such ships were built between 1976 and 1979—serving until the final one was scrapped in 2003. They were built in the Bassin C dock of the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyards at Saint Nazaire, France. Measured by gross tonnage, these were, at the time, the largest ships of any type ever constructed.

Measurements

While being the largest ships ever built by gross tonnage until, the four Batillus-class ships were the second largest ever constructed when measuring deadweight tonnage or length overall, behind only the supertanker , which existed from 1979 to 2009.
While there were minor differences between the four Batillus-class ships, they all approached a gross tonnage of 275,000 and tonnage, and had a length overall of over .
The Batillus class had a depth of nearly from the main deck and a full load draft of, second only to the ULCC tanker Al Andalus, which had a draft of, and slightly greater than the two Globtik Tokyo-class ULCCs.
Unlike Seawise Giant and most other ULCCs, the Batillus-class vessels had twin screws, twin boilers of full size and power, and twin rudders. As a result, in an emergency they could more easily and safely be operated than with a single propeller and a single boiler.

Vessels in class