Guests at the ceremony, which featured traditional Chinese music and dancing, included top Stena managers and representatives of partners and the yard.
Doing the honours as godmother was Katarina Ljungqvist, head of Handelsbanken Western Sweden. A tour of the vessel followed, led by Captain Sachin Salunkhe.
On its maiden voyage, the Stena Immaculate will carry cargo including vegoil from Papua New Guinea to Europe.
Since the first IMOIIMax tanker was handed over at the beginning of 2015, “the vessels are continuing to perform beyond our expectations”, Stena Bulk president and chief executive Erik Hanell told guests.
“The concept has set a new standard for both cargo efficiency and bunkers consumption. This tanker [Stena Immaculate] will be yet another addition to our high-quality fleet,” he added.
‘Fantastic collaboration’
Hanell went on to thank the yard for its “fantastic collaboration during both the technological development and construction” of the vessel.
The Stena Immaculate is 183 metres long with a beam of 32 metres. The IMOIIMax concept was developed by GSI with Stena Teknik and features optimised cargo flexibility, a high level of safety and fuel consumption estimated to be 10% to 20% below that of equivalent vessels when sailing at service speed.
The 10th unit is slated for handover in March and the last three vessels in 2018. Five are 100% owned by Stena Bulk, four together with partner Golden Agri-Resources, two by Stena Weco — the Gothenburg owner’s joint venture with Johan Wedell-Wedellsborg’s Weco — and two by sister company Concordia Maritime. All of them will be operated in the Stena Weco fleet.
Ten vessels were ordered in 2012 and a further three firm tankers and two options worth $200m were inked in 2015.
