World Bunkering > News > Autumn 2009 > Double first

Russia’s one and only modern double-hull, double-bottom bunkering tanker Fortuna-1 began operations in the ports of the Russian Far East in May 2009. It currently trades between the ports of the Russian Far East: Vladivostok, Nakhodka, Vostochnyy, Olga, Plastun, Posyet, Slavyanka and others, providing quick and in time delivery of marine bunker fuels.

Fortuna-1

Roman Chaykun, head of the bunkering department at Daxin Petroleum Pte. Ltd, which owns the Fortuna-1, reveals the details of this innovative project for the Russian Far East: “The Fortuna-1 is a double-hull, double-bottom bunkering tanker (2021 dwt, loa 73.8m, beam 12.0m, depth 5.2m, draft 4.712m). It was built by Sanyo Shipyard Co. Ltd, Hiroshima, Japan, strictly for delivery of bunker fuels, according to Japanese and International standards. The tanker is highly manouverable, and is equipped with all modern safety, oil spill and pollution prevention, navigations and communications equipment, complying with all requirements of MARPOL Annex V, as well as to all the SOLAS requirements. Here at Daxin, we take great care of the environment, and therefore have carefully chosen a modern bunkering tanker that would not only suit us in terms of fast and timely delivery of marine bunker fuels, but would also be safe for the marine environment and would be, without doubt, certified accordingly.”

What are the competitive advantages of the bunker barge Fortuna-1 in comparison to others available today in the Russian Far East?

“The Fortuna-1 is registered under the Russian flag and complies fully with the requirements of the Russian Maritime Registry. The vessel is ice-strengthened and operates under Russian Region 2, which is the equivalent of unlimited navigation area. Fortuna-1 is equipped with 10 cargo tanks, all double valve segregated, giving a total volume of 2234 cu m, and can carry both fuel oil and gasoil. It is equipped with the full range of modern bunker barge facilities, including state of the art oil spill and pollution prevention equipment, and has a top speed of 12-15 knots. The tanker is also equipped with a lifting crane swl one tonne L-11.3m.

Fortuna-1 is equipped with two pumps of 600 cu m per hour each for fuel oil and a single pump of 100 cu m per hour for gasoil. All three cargo pumps are capable of working together, giving a total pumping rate of 1,200 cu m of fuel oil and 100 cu m of gas oil per hour. The barge is also equipped with a blender and portable laboratory on board, giving us the opportunity to carefully monitor the quality of bunker fuels on board. I would like to take this opportunity to stress that if the receiving vessel can accommodate a pumping rate of 1,200 cu m the bunkering operation, which previously lasted for 15-20 hours (delivering 2,000 tonnes and more) it now takes only 3-4 hours. This provides a tremendous opportunity for vessels making bunkers-only calls in the Russian Far East to shorten their stay, and receive – again, I would emphasise – the cheapest bunker fuels in the Asia Pacific region.

Today Fortuna-1 is the only bunkering tanker that fully meets and satisfies all the requirements of both International conventions and Russian Registry of shipping, as well as those of well-known oil companies such as ExxonMobil and Shell.

We seriously doubt that there are similar bunkering tankers in the Russian Far East, or in Russia as a whole, at the moment.”

How has the new tanker influenced your company activities?

“When we were considering investing in a double-hull, doublebottom bunkering tanker, we were first guided by our commitment to our customers to provide the best, most competitive and safest sale and delivery of marine bunker fuels.

The tanker is managed by JSC International Oil Company on behalf of Daxin Petroleum Pte. Ltd. This company has been working in the oil products market for more than 10 years, and has a strong reputation as a reliable business partner.”