Batillus Class Supertankers

Batillus Class Supertankers

The Batillus-class supertanker is a class of tanker ships built in France at the end of the 1970s. Four such ships were built. Measured by gross tonnage, they were and remain the largest ships of any type ever constructed.

They were 555,000 metric tons deadweight (DWT) gross tonnage, and 414 metres.

They were built in the Bassin C dock and launched from the shipyards of Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint Nazaire, France.

The only other ship considered larger depending on measure was the Seawise Giant of 1979. (Seawise Giant was originally designed with a smaller tonnage than the Batillus class, but had her length and tonnage increased during construction.)

Considering gross tonnage, Batillus and Bellamya are the largest ever built at 275,268 tons. Compare Seawise Giant at 260,581 gross tonnage when in service as an oil tanker.

Considering fully loaded displacement, the Seawise Giant still holds the record, edging out the Batillus ships.

Regarding depth and draft. The Batillus class depth of nearly 36 metres and full load draft of 28.5 metres are records for tankers, being slightly greater than the two Globtik Tokyo class ULCCs.

Unlike Seawise Giant and most other ULCCs, the Batillus class vessels had twin screws, twin boilers of full size and power, and twin rudders. As a result, in an emergency they could more easily and safely be operated with a single propeller and a single boiler.