14 New Generation Double-Skin Tankers Being Built By Fincantieri

The double-hull configuration for tankers entering U.S. ports, as required by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, will phase out of service a sizable number of large oil carriers built in the first half of the 1970s.

This fact will stimulate the demand for safer, more technologically advanced vessels.

The Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has been building double-skin tankers since the 1970s.

Additionally, the builder has constructed several advanced skimming vessels as well.

Fincantieri's present order book boasts 14 double-skin tankers designed and built in accordance with the criteria set down in OPA 90, as well as forthcoming IMO regulations.

Notable among these new generation tankers are eight sister ships under construction at Fincantieri's Ancona shipyard. The 85,000-dwt double-hulled ships are 731 feet long, offering thorough protection in case of collision or grounding. They also feature segregated oil tanks, which are completely independent of the ballast water tanks. Propulsion power is provided by a single GMTSulzer model 7RTA62 main diesel engine, with an MCR of 11,620 at 73 rpm.

The eight oil carriers are on order for several owners—five for Almare di Navigazione (Finmare Group), and one each for Finaval (Barbaro Group), Fermar (Ferruzzi Group), and Premuda Societ di Navigazione.

Other double-hull tanks on order at Fincantieri are: two 150,000-dwt ships for Snam (Eni Group) at the Marghera yard; two 32,000-dwt ships for Finaval and Fermar at the Sestri yard; and two 11,500-dwt ships for D'Alesio at the Livorno yard.

Furthermore, Fincantieri is a member of a European consortium developing a tanker for the 21st century.

Through an agreement between Fincantieri, Astilleros Espanoles (Spain), Bremer Vulkan and Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (Germany), and Chantier de l'Atlantique (France), a so-called "E 3 Tanker"—European, Ecological and Economical—is under development.

The E3 Tanker consortium is designing a two-million-barrel-capacity, 280,000-dwt VLCC, provided with built-in structural safety features— a double hull, totally segregated ballast tanks, and active safety systems. In particular, besides possible quick transfer cargo systems between the various ship's tanks, and ballast tank gas detection and ventilation systems, anti-collision integrated navigation systems and automated maneuvering and emergency control systems will be integrated.

In the area of anti-pollution vessels, between 1989 and 1990, Fincantieri completed four Cassiopea Class craft for the Italian Ministry of the Merchant Marine, in compliance with the 1982 Italian Law on Sea Protection.

These 1,450-ton multipurpose vessels played a critical role in limiting the environmental damage after recent tanker accidents in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

In addition, Fincantieri has developed specialized coastal craft designed for anti-pollution services in restricted areas, and a multipurpose offshore vessel with a service speed of more than 22 knots, able to quickly intervene on an expanded range.

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Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 25, May 1992

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