Naming ceremony in 2010 for the ‘João Candido‘, the first Suezmax tanker in a series of ten built by Estaleiro Atlântico Sul for TransPetro and a sister ship to ‘Zumbi dos Palmares’. The oil tanker’s main engine is an electronically controlled MAN B&W 6S70ME-C type, designed by MAN Diesel & Turbo and built by licensee Doosan (photo © Petrobrás)
Suezmax tanker latest vessel in oil transport fleet
On 20 May, 2013, MAN Diesel & Turbo representatives attended the delivery ceremony of the Suezmax tanker ‘Zumbi dos Palmares’. Powered by an MAN B&W 6S70ME-C type prime mover and 3 × MAN 7L23/30H auxiliary engines, the vessel is the second ship built by Estaleiro Atlantico Sul (EAS) stemming from the Brazilian Government’s PROMEF shipbuilding program.
The ceremony took place at the EAS shipyard, in north-eastern Brazil, and was attended by the President of Brazil – Dilma Rouseff, President of Petrobras – Maria das Graças Silva Foster, and President of Transpetro – Sergio Machado.
“We are proud to participate in this new chapter of Brazilian shipbuilding history”, said Lincoln de Sousa, Diesel Division director of MAN Diesel & Turbo in Brazil who also attended the ceremony. He continued: “We want to congratulate Transpetro on the successful launch and are confident that our engine will contribute to a successful working life for the new tanker. To this end, we have already trained some of the Zumbi dos Palmares crew on various aspects of the engine’s operation at our MAN Primeserv Academy in Rio de Janeiro.”
At the ceremony, Transpetro also announced the reactivation of contracts for 12 ships to be constructed by EAS. The latest newbuilding is one of 10 Suezmax vessels EAS is contracted to produce.
Transpetro is Brazil’s largest hydrocarbon transportation company and a fully owned subsidiary of Petrobras, the local energy multinational. Under PROMEF (Program for Modernization and Expansion of the Fleet), Transpetro has ordered a total of 28 ships, all to be equipped with MAN B&W two-stroke prime movers. Each engine has an output of circa 22, 000 hp.
The Zumbi dos Palmares has a payload of one million barrels of crude oil, equivalent to half of Brazil’s daily production, and will primarily sail long, international routes. Immediately after the ceremony, the tanker started its maiden voyage, departing
Copenhagen, Atlântico Sul in Suape for the Campos Basin off Rio de Janeiro. Its launching marks the fifth PROMEF vessel in operation, two of which have come from the EAS yard. The other EAS vessel is a sister Suezmax tanker, the ‘João Cândido’, which was delivered in 2010 and is similarly powered by an electronically controlled MAN B&W 6S70ME-C type engine.
Main Data: LOA 274, 2 moulded breadth: 48, Height: 51, 6 No of tanks: 12 + 2 cargo tanks leftovers Speed 14.8 knots Main Engine: MAN B&W 6S70ME-C, Maximum Continuous Power 16, 852kW at 91 rpm, Aux Engines: 3 x 7L2330, individual output 1, 120 KW at 900 rpm
About PROMEF
PROMEF aims to modernise the Transpetro fleet with a secondary aim the stimulation of activity within the Brazilian naval industry. Under the original terms of the program, 49 vessels of different sizes for the transport of oil and oil products were ordered, distributed among domestic shipyards, amounting to an investment of R$ 10.8 billion. The expectation is that the Transpetro fleet will number more than 110 ships in 2016.
