Delivery of Bow Excellence marks the end of Odfjell’s newbuilding program

October 27, 2020

Over the past four years, the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard has been the hub spot of Odfjell’s extensive newbuilding program. Buzzing with experts from Odfjell, suppliers and the yard, six chemical tankers have been constructed. The last vessel has now been officially handed over from the yard to Odfjell, ready to set sail. With its very fitting name, Bow Excellence pays credit to everyone involved in this historic renewal of the Odfjell fleet.

The ground-breaking newbuild series compiles four 49,000 dwt vessels with 33 stainless steel tanks – currently the world’s largest chemical tankers – and two 38,000 dwt vessels with 40 tanks. Size and number of tanks aside, what really put these six ships in their own league is the innovative features on board. Through meticulous planning, exhaustive search for new and better solutions, and a team spirit out of the ordinary, these ships can document leading results in energy efficiency – significantly reducing emissions compared to traditional tankers.

The youngest of our vessels enters trade with a most experienced crew. With his 30 years in Odfjell, Captain Kjell Arne Hevrøy is well versed in every aspect of chemical tankers and sailing the world’s oceans. Joined by a top-trained crew of 21 from the Philippine and Norway, Bow Excellence is in the very best hands when she embarks on the maiden voyage.

“The delivery of Bow Excellence marks the completion of our building program at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard. This has been an exciting journey with excellent support from all parties involved. As a consequence, we now operate six of the world’s most sophisticated chemical tankers: environmentally friendly and well suited for our customers’ present and future requirements.

The first vessel, Bow Orion, won the ‘Tanker Ship of the Year’ award in 2019 and her performance over the last year has confirmed that it was well deserved. A big THANK YOU! to everyone involved for a job very well done!”

Harald Fotland, COO, Odfjell SE

Since Odfjell’s major fleet renewal program was initiated back in 2016, we have welcomed 30 brand new vessels – all tailor-made for the chemical tanker trade and with the most recent design and technology onboard. The individual sizes, tanks and features vary to secure a most optimal fleet composition. Combined, our specialized fleet offers services and flexibility that answers to our customers’ broad set of requirements – while also answering to the international ambitions for eco-friendly, sustainable shipping.

Bow Excellence will fly the Norwegian flag (NIS), and enters our round-the-world trade. As with the other newbuilds, she is manned with Odfjell seafarers, operated in-house by Odfjell Ship Management and commercially managed by Odfjell Tankers.

Delivery ceremony at Hudong-Zhonghua yard as chemical tanker Bow Excellence enters Odfjell's fleet

Bow Excellence was officially delivered to Odfjell on October 20 at the Hudong-Zhonghua yard in China.

Specifications, Bow Excellence:

Double Hull IMO II Tanker for chemicals and oil products
40 cargo tanks, stainless steel material (Duplex 2205)@
ECO design hull with large propeller and de-rated main engine
Service speed at design draft: 14 knots
Main engine consumption at design draft: about 18.6 MT/24 hr (HFO)
Length overall: 182.88 m
Length between perpendiculars: 179.43 m
Breadth: 32.20 m
Deadweight: 38.235 mt
PO Capacity C1-C12: 18.967 cbm
Thermal oil heating capacity: 2.098 cbm

Energy-saving features:

Large fixed propeller and asymmetric rudder with rudder bulb.
Main engine with long stroke and low SFOC, separate FW cooling system for scavenging cooler
LED type lighting including floodlights and navigation lights
Engine room fans frequency-controlled including pressure, temperature and main engine fuel index
Boilers with frequency-controlled fans
Air-condition system of water chiller type with heat recovery wheel and frequency-controlled supply/exhaust fans
Main seawater cooling pumps with frequency control
LT cooling pumps with dedicated harbor cooling pump