ULCC or Ultra Large Crude Carriers are the largest shipping vessels in the world with a size ranging between 320,000 to 500,000 DWT. Dead Weight Tonnage (DWT) is the measure of weight when it comes to tankers. In terms of oil tankers like a very large crude carrier or an ultra large crude carrier, the DWT represent the maximum quantity of DWT that can be carried.
ULCC vessels can carry 3 million barrels of crude oil and it but are currently unable to call at any U.S. coastal port. ULCC vessels can be serviced at deep-water mooring stations, such as the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, that use hoses connected to land-based pipelines and pumping stations.
ULCCs together with VLCCs accounted for approximately 44 per cent of the world tanker fleet in DWT terms in 2010. Much of the world’s oil exports that originate from the Persian Gulf are destined for the world’s largest economies, the United States of America, China, Germany and Japan.
The largest supertanker ever built was the 555,843 DWT Seawise Giant, refitted in 2004 as a floating storage and offloading unit named the Knock Nevis. It was built by Sumitomo Heavy Industries in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan.
Current supertanker sizes are defined by market conditions providing an economic upper bound and geophysical limitations defining the number of routes and ports (or offshore terminals) that these very large vessels can safely serve.
ULCCs (Ultra Large Crude Carriers)
