Bellamya


Bellamya was a supertanker, built in 1976 by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire for the French branch of Shell Oil. She was the second. Bellamya, together with her sister ships, and, was one of the biggest ships in the world, surpassed in size only by built in 1976, and extended in 1981, although the four ships of the Batillus class had a larger gross tonnage. By gross tonnage—a measure of volume—Bellamya was the largest ship ever built.

History

The contract to build the Batillus-class supertankers was signed on 6 April 1971, and the first sheet metal was cut in January 1975. Meanwhile, the oil crisis|oil shock] caused by the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 resulted in higher oil prices and reduced imports by industrialized countries. The cancellation of the orders was seriously considered, but Shell concluded that it was better to continue, mostly to not put the shipyard in a very difficult position by withdrawing such a huge, already initiated project. It was also hoped for an improvement in market conditions.
The ship was completed and put in service in 1976, months after the completion of her sister ship Batillus, and that of the new, purposely built, oil terminal Antifer, near Le Havre, one of very few ports in the world capable of accommodating Batillus-class tankers. The international oil market however, did not improve; her size also placed restrictions on where she could be employed, and this must have led to her early demise. Active service ended when Bellamya was laid up at Vestnes, Norway, on 26 January 1984, and she arrived at Ulsan, South Korea, on 6 January 1986 to be scrapped.

Technical data

Bellamyas length overall was, her beam was, and draft. The ship was measured at, and. Propulsion was provided by two propellers each driven by two Stal-Laval steam turbines developing a total capacity of. The service speed was, with fuel consumption of about of heavy oil per day and fuel enough for 42 days.
The cargo was carried in 40 tanks with a total volume of. They were divided into central and lateral tanks, whose dimensions was designed to reduce considerably the risk of pollution caused by collision or grounding. Ahead of the international standards of the time, the wing tanks had a maximum unit volume not exceeding, which was reduced to in the most vulnerable parts of ship.