Turkey: Besiktas Shipyard Launches Third Tanker of Armada Series Ordered by Palmali Group

Yalova-based Besiktas Shipyard (Turkey) yesterday, June 24, 2011, launches the third tanker of Armada series ordered by Palmali Group, the shipping
company’s senior executive told PortNews.
Vice President of Palmali Group RaufAliyev said the tanker was named Lerik. Earlier, the Group had increased from 10 to 15 vessels its Armada series newbuilds order (Project RST22M). The ships are scheduled for delivery at the end of 2013.
As of now, 2 vessels of the series have been put into service, the shipping company said. The tanker series is a continuation of the Project 005RST01, known as the “Armada” of the first series, previously designed by Marine Engineering Bureau for Palmali Group and built at the shipyards of Selah and ADA in Tuzla (Turkey) in 2002 -2006. This an updated version of the 2nd series tankers (Project RST22), which were built at Nizhny Novgorod-based KrasnoyeSormovo in 2008-2009.
Ten tankers of the first Armada and five tankers of the New Armada are operated in the mixed “river-sea” transportation of crude oil, fuel oil, diesel fuel and other petroleum products and vegetable oils, as well as sea borne shipping in the Caspian, Black, Mediterranean, Baltic and North Seas, including sailings around Europe and in the Irish Sea in winter. The new series tankers satisfy the Volga-Don Canal and the Volga-Baltic dimensions. RST22M project vessel specifications – 139.95 m, breadth – 16.6 m, depth – 6,0 m; built to ‘Volga-Don max’ class.
Palmali Group is a shipping company operating in the Mediterranean, Caspian and Black Seas. Last year, shipments of oil cargo on Russia’s inland waterways by the Group’s fleet exceeded 4,5m tons. Palmali Group is a major carrier of oil companies SOCAR (Azerbaijan) and LUKOIL (Russia) on the southern lines. The Group has been awarded long-term contracts for transportation of petroleum products with TNK-BP.
The Group operates a fleet of more than 100 vessels, including sea-going tankers of up to 180,000dwt, sea-going and river tankers of up to 8,000dwt tons flying Russia and foreign flags.
Source: Port News