A newbuild class for a Swedish lake-based shipping operator was launched at Ferus Smit’s shipyard in Leer, Germany, as leadship Thun Resource entered the water last Friday, writes Jehan Ashmore.
At the morning launch of Thun Resource, the newbuild became the first ‘R’ class in a series of six resource efficient coastal tankers ordered for Erik Thun A.B.’s subsidiary Thun Tankers. The German shipbuilder also has a shipyard in the neighbouring Netherlands, located at Westerbroek, where many an Arklow Shipping newbuild was launched.
Thun have ordered the R-Class vessels, each of 7,999 deadweight (dwt) tons, and which are a further development of the E-class tankers that were delivered to the Swedish shipowner based in Lidköping, located on Lake Vänern from where shipping canals connect to the Skagarrek, on the west coast of Sweden and close to Copenhagen.
The R class newbuilds share identical main dimensions of 115m length overall (LOA) with a 15.9 beam and on a draft of 6.95m, however they have leadship 13 coated cargo tanks. When combined this gives a 9,700 m3 of cargo volume.
With this new class, the focus remains once more on resource efficiency, environmental responsibility and logistical reliability. In addition these newbuild tankers will be built to the latest design standards and often exceeding existing and forthcoming regulations.
The newbuilds will also be designated to Ice Class 1A and be suited for year-round Baltic Sea service operations with a main engine generating 1,950 kW.
