Fluctuations in crude oil prices have a direct impact on the economy and so, it is not wrong to say that fuel is what makes the world go round. The transportation of oil is an age-old profession and the means of doing this by sea is as old as the idea itself. While the advent of container shipping is fairly new, tankers have been in use for over a century.
Liquid cargoes such as crude oil, finished petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), chemicals, edible oils, wine, juice, molasses are one of the mainstays of shipping.They play an important role in international trade with a share of over 33% of the world tonnage. Tankers come in varied sizes ranging from handysize tankers to ultra large crude carriers (ULCC) with a deadweight tonnage ranging between 320,000 to 550,000.
Image Courtesy: F. Dsouza
What is now a dynamic and world changing movement, first began in the late 1800’s, when the idea to transport liquid cargo was formed and developed.
Before tanker ships were introduced as means of oil transportation, oil was transported via a crude method across water channels. Casks and drums were filled up with oil after which they were transported to the designated locations. This method was not only time-consuming in regards to the loading of the vessels but it also lacked the necessary security and safety.
The method was a common practice in the Soviet Republic, especially in the Azerbaijan province of Baku, where most of the rock oil excavation processes were based at.The need to transport all this excavated oil resulted in the birth of ‘Zoroaster’, the first modern tanker, built byLudvig Nobel.
Image Courtesy: LinkedIn
According to , “By as early as 1872, the first tanker had been built of steel (s/s Vaderland) so as to transport oil in bulk, but was put to another use. Robert and Ludvig Nobel considered loading paraffin and oil directly into the hull, but Robert assumed that: “the lapping of the waves on board could become more dangerous than the ocean waves”. Practical trials proved that he was right. The Americans shipped oil across the Atlantic in large oak casks, which were not infrequently broken apart during the voyage. There was a great risk of an explosion. Tankers were the right idea, but how to make them safe with their inflammable load?”
Ludwig Nobelcame up with an alternative method that changed the transportation process forever. He proposed theuse of a pipeline to directly fill the excavated rock oil into storage tanks built within the ship itself instead of filling up casks with the excavated oil and then loading those casks onto the vessels.
The construction of the oil tanks within the ship was also an aspect that had to be carefully evaluated and examined. If the tanks were to be constructed too close to the engine and boiler compartments, the risk of a potential mishap was eminent. In case of non-proper ventilation, incidents and detonations could also occur. To solve these issues, Ludwig took help from his brother, Robert Nobel, who was a crucial aspect in the design and evolution of modern-day tankers.
Image Courtesy: Damen
At first, Ludwig’s idea was met with a lot of suspicion and not many believed that it would work. Despite criticism from the maritime community, in 1877, Nobel managed to construct a 12-kilometre long pipe by which to transport oil from the drilling zones directly to the ship.
Nobel became the first person to design and order a tanker built of steel. In 1877, an order was placed at Motala works’ shipyards in Norrköping. The vessel wasnamed Zoroaster, after the Iranian philosopher, Zarathustra, whose theses were very popular among Europeans of the time.Zoroaster carried its 242 long tons of kerosene cargo in two iron tanks joined by pipes.One tank was forward of the midships engine room and the other was aft.The ship also featured a set of 21 vertical watertight compartments for extra buoyancy.The ship had a length overall of 184 feet (56m), a beam of 27 feet (8.2m), and a draft of 9 feet (2.7m).Launched in 1878, it took oil from Baku, across the Caspian and up the Volga, where it could be distributed across Russia. A fleet of such ships made Baku the world’s busiest port.
After Zoroaster, cametwolarger ships, Buddha and Nordenskiöld. They were built to sail between Baku and Astrakhan. Zoroaster could sail from Sweden on the rivers down to the Caspian Sea but Buddah and Nordenskiöldwere shipped from Sweden in three parts on pontoons to the Caspian Sea and put together in Astrakhan.
The Nobel brothers approved the construction of eight additional tankers for their corporation Branobel, with some suitable constructional modifications as required. Each of the eight vessels proved to be as or even more efficient than the Zoroaster and basically shaped the utilisation of tankers as we know them today.
The rest, as they say, is history.
