Versatile tanker from Turkish yard

The Turkish shipbuilder ?i?ek Shipyard has delivered the 3,087 DWT double-hull tanker Frecciamare to the Italian shipowner Ciane Anapo. Based in Augusta, on the east coast of Sicily, Ciane Anapo is part of the Novella Group, which specialises in coastal tanker and bunker operations.

Frecciamare was completed as Chem Flower, the first of four identical vessels now being built by ?i?ek Shipyard for its associated shipowning company White Tulip Shipping, based in Malta. White Tulip then sold Chem Flower to Ciane Anapo shortly after completion, leaving ?i?ek to make some minor modifications to meet the new owner’s requirements.

Although Ciane Anapo intends using this first vessel for bunkering duties, the four ships are extremely flexible, all being capable of worldwide trading, transporting oil products, chemicals (IMO type II) and vegetable, animal and fish oils.

MarineLine coatings were selected by ?i?ek to give the ability to carry a wide range of cargoes while high manoeuvrability is guaranteed by the choice of twin azimuthing propellers and a bow thruster. They are classed by Bureau Veritas and constructed to meet Ice B standards.

According to Berke ?i?ek, Vice President of Cicek Shipyard, interest from European owners for such vessels is strong, despite the overall weak state of the shipping market. He explained:

“New double-hulled vessels such as Frecciamare and her three sisters now under construction are in great demand to replace older tonnage and because we took the initiative to start construction to our own account, the new owners have benefited from an extremely short delivery period. We are talking to a number of other potential owners and charterers and are confident of finding buyers who can secure immediate and profitable employment for these vessels.

“We were interested to see that Frecciamare’s owner Ciane Anapo envisages employing its new vessel in the bunker trades as we had identified this market as particularly attractive. Many bunker tankers are still single-hull and quite elderly. There is a replacement market and there is also a requirement for larger vessels like ours since average ship sizes continue to grow. Large containerships, for example, take on board substantial amounts of bunkers and they also expect a fast rate of delivery.”