South Korea: Samsung Heavy Holds Naming Ceremony for ‘Stena Sunrise’

On January 31st the Suezmax tanker Stena Sunrise was named at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard in Geoje, South Korea. The vessel is the last in a series of seven units and is owned by Stena Bulk.

The Stena Sunrise is a third generation, fuel-efficient Suezmax and, like the other tankers in the series, will be employed on the spot market via Stena Sonangol Suezmax Pool. She was delivered on 30 January and will sail with a cargo of gas oil from Asia to Europe.

A number of international guests had gathered together with representatives of SHI and the Stena Group at the shipyard in Geoje to attend the naming ceremony. The Stena Sunrise’s godmother was Inge Widjaja, married to Franky O Widjaja, owner of Indonesian Golden Agri (GAR).

The Stena Sunrise is the last vessel in a series built at SHI and ordered at the beginning of 2010. “The seven sisters”, each representing an investment of just under SEK 500 million, were projected by Stena Bulk.

The seven sister ships, all of which have now been delivered, are the Stena Superior (owned by Stena Bulk), the Stena Suède (Stena Bulk), the Montesperanza (Spanish Ibaizabal Tankers), the MonteStena (Ibaizabal Tankers), the Stena Supreme (Concordia Maritime), the AST Sunshine (joint venture between Japanese Asahi Tankers and Stena Bulk) and the Stena Sunrise (Stena Bulk).

Together with SHI, Stena Teknik has been responsible for the development of the new ship model, where the focus has been on energy efficiency. The vessel’s technical equipment and design mean that fuel consumption can be reduced by up to 10-15 percent compared with standard tonnage. As a result, fuel consumption can be reduced by 4-6 thousand litres per day thus saving USD 3-4,000/day.

“Like Stena Teknik, we are very satisfied with the collaboration with the Samsung shipyard, which has characterised both the development and production of this tanker series. Besides the generally good quality delivered by the shipyard, we have together achieved our fuel efficiency target, which was the single most important objective”, says Erik Hånell, President and CEO of Stena Bulk, in a comment.

The Stena Sonangol Suezmax Pool is controlled by Stena Bulk and the Angolan state-owned oil company Sonangol. The pool currently consists of around thirty fuel-efficient Suezmax tankers and the average age of the fleet is about three years. Stena Bulk’s offices in Houston, Gothenburg, Rio de Janeiro and Singapore are responsible for the operation and chartering of the vessels in the pool.