Tankers, bulk carriers and container vessels are the three largest groups of vessels within the merchant fleet and, therefore, these market segments deserve great attention.
Depending on the products carried by the tankers, these may be divided into the following main types:
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Chemical tanker
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Product tanker
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Crude oil tanker
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Gas tanker
The economic and technical conditions of the tanker market are continuously changing. For example, 30 years ago the size of a crude oil tanker was to be as large as possible, and the limited safety and environmental demands gave room for the simple mono-hull construction, in comparison to the safer and more advanced double-hull construction of today.
Moreover there is a continuing demand for propeller designs used to be optimised for highest energy efficiency, which in turn leads to demands for low speeds of the directly coupled two-stroke engines used for the propulsion of the tanker, while also reducing the emissions footprint compared to the past.
The reliability, the versatility and the fuel efficiency of the main propulsion engine used is therefore of paramount importance.