History of The Oil Tanker - Supertanker Era

Supertanker Era

Where the size of tankers had been more or less the same for 25 years, after World War II they have grown in size significantly, initially slowly. A typical T2 tanker of the World War II era was 532 feet (162 m) long and had a capacity of 16,500 DWT. A modern ultra-large crude carrier (ULCC) can be 1,300 feet (400 m) long and have a capacity of 500,000 DWT. Several factors encouraged this growth. Hostilities in the Middle East which interrupted traffic through the Suez Canal contributed, as did nationalization of Middle East oil refineries. Intense competition among shipowners also played a part. But apart from these considerations is a simple economic advantage: The larger an oil tanker is, the more cheaply it can move crude oil, and the better it can help meet growing demands for oil.

Where the refinery of oil had taken place near the well earlier, this moved to the consumer location during this stage. Oil production in the Middle East developed and the dominance of product tankers was replaced by crude oil carriers. Soon, Panamax tankers were built, soon followed by Aframax and Suezmax tankers because of economics.

After the war, it was expected that a large number of tankers would be laid up, which indeed happened. The United States Maritime Commission had replaced the War Shipping Board, but fraudulent activities remained. Aristotle Onassis and Stavros Niarchos used this to buy tankers cheaply. The expected economic decline did not come, due to reasons amongst others the Marshall plan, with the demand for oil increasing to the point in 1947 that there was a shortage of tankers. Freight tariffs tripled overnight, enabling some to recoup their investment in one voyage.

Ludwig had started Universe Tankships in 1947 and began building larger tankers in his Welding Shipyards. The Bulkpetrol of 30,000 long tons was the largest tanker of its time. Four of the five Bulk class tankers sank, likely because welding technology was not yet fully understood. As larger ships could not be constructed in the yard at Norfolk, Virginia, Ludwig went to Japan where he introduced the block construction method at the Kure Naval Yard. Here, in 1952, he built the Petrokure of 38,000 long tons. That same year, Onassis had a tanker of 45,000 long tons built and also Niarchos had supertankers built. Both Onassis and Niarchos claimed to be the largest independent tanker owner in the world.

The Sinclair Petrolore that Ludwig had built in 1955, was at 56,000 long tons not only the largest freighter in the world, but also a self-unloading ore-oil carrier, the only one of that type ever built. It exploded on 6 December 1960 near Brazil — likely because of cargo leakage in the double bottom — resulting in the largest spill until then with 60,000 tons.

In 1956 the Universe Leader of 85,000 long tons was built just before the Suez Crisis started with the seizure of the Pannegia . In ten years time, tanker size had quadrupled. In 1958, Ludwig broke the barrier of 100,000 long tons of heavy displacement. His Universe Apollo displaced 104,500 long tons, a 23% increase from the Universe Leader.

In 1962 Niarchos had the 106,000 long ton SS Manhattan built. This was the largest merchant vessel ever built in the United States. It was converted to have ice breaking capacities in 1969 and was the first commercial ship to cross the Northwest Passage. Although the voyage was a success, a second attempt to cross the passage in winter proved impossible, and there were numerous environmental concerns with the project, so it was cancelled and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System built.

In 1966 the Idemitsu Maru of 206,000 long tons was built. In twenty years, the size of tankers had increased tenfold.