Completed October 1977 Launched 16 August 1977 | Yard number D26 Length 414 m | |
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Owner Compagnie Nationale de Navigation, France | ||
Pierre Guillaumat was a supertanker, built in 1977 by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire for Compagnie Nationale de Navigation. Pierre Guillaumat, which was the third vessel of Batillus class supertankers (the other three, slightly smaller, were Batillus, Bellamya and Prairial), is distinguished as the biggest ship ever constructed (by gross tonnage, a value based roughly on internal volume, not mass). It was surpassed in length, deadweight tonnage(≈cargo mass), and displacement, only by Seawise Giant (later Jahre Viking, Happy Giant and Knock Nevis), which, though it was originally smaller when it was built in 1976, was subsequently lengthened and enlarged.
Named after the French politician and founder of Elf Aquitaine oil industry, Pierre Guillaumat, the vessel was completed and put in service in 1977. Due to unprofitability, accentuated by huge dimensions of the ship, which placed restrictions on where she could be employed, the Pierre Guillaumat was put on hold at Fujairah anchorage since February 2, 1983, and later that year, bought by the Hyundai Corporation, and renamed Ulsan Master, she arrived at Ulsan, South Korea for demolition on October 19, 1983.
Because of her gigantic proportions the usability of Pierre Guillaumat was very limited. She couldn't pass through either the Panama or Suez canals. Because of her draft, she could enter a minimal number of ports in the world, and was therefore moored on offshore rigs, and oil terminals like Antifer and after off-loading to reduce her draft, at Europoort.
Technical data
Length overall was 414.23 m, beam 63.05 m, draft 28.603 m, deadweight tonnage 555,051, and gross tonnage 274,838. Propulsion was provided by two propellers each driven by two Stal-Laval steam turbines developing a total power of 65,000 Hp. The service speed was 16.7 knots, with fuel consumption of about 330 tonnes of heavy oil per day and fuel enough for 42 days.
The cargo was carried in 40 tanks with a total volume of 677,300 m3. They were divided into central and lateral tanks, whose dimensions were designed to reduce considerably the risk of pollution caused by collision or grounding. Ahead of the international standards of the time, the wing tanks had a maximum unit volume not exceeding 17,000 m3, which was reduced to 9,000 m3 in the most vulnerable parts of ship.
