A large number of guests, both customers and partners as well as employees and representatives of the shipyard and corporate management, had gathered at the shipyard to attend the solemn ceremony. The naming ceremony began with traditional Chinese dancing and music after which godmother Jean Mulholland swung the bottle of champagne against the newbuilding’s bow and wished the vessel fortune and prosperity on the seven seas. The Stena Impero’s captain, Vinay Singh, then gave the guests a guided tour of the tanker. After her delivery on 7 February, she sailed on her maiden voyage with a cargo of vegetable oils from Asia to Europe.

13 SISTER SHIPS NOW DELIVERED

The Stena Impero was delivered on 7 February. She is the last in a series of 13 IMOIIMAX sister ships, representing an investment of SEK 4 billion, ordered by Stena Bulk at the shipyard Guangzhou Shipbuilding International (GSI) in 2012.

“It was exactly three years ago that we took delivery of our first vessel in the IMOIIMAX series and all the vessels have performed beyond our expectations. Both the technical and the commercial concepts have proved to be very successful and have set a new standard for cargo efficiency and bunker consumption. With the delivery of the Stena Impero, the IMOIIMAX fleet is now complete, in line with the order, and is a significant and competitive addition to our high-quality fleet. At the same time, it is an important step forward and a development of our existing sophisticated trading system”, comments Erik Hånell, President and CEO of Stena Bulk.

“In conjunction with the final delivery, we took the opportunity to thank the shipyard GSI for fantastic collaboration with Stena Teknik during the development of the technology and during the three long years of production”, adds a satisfied and proud Erik Hånell.

All the IMOIIMAX sisters sail in Stena Bulk’s logistic system, which focuses on refined petroleum products, vegetable oils and chemicals. The fleet consists of 60 vessels related to Products & Chemicals and is operated from Stena Bulk’s recently opened office in Copenhagen with support from the company’s offices in Singapore, Houston and Dubai and its head office in Gothenburg.