Cicek Delivers First of Four 3100 DWT Tankers

The Turkish shipbuilder Çiçek Shipyard has delivered the 3,087dwt double-hull tanker Frecciamare to the Italian shipowner Ciane Anapo Spa. Based in one of Italy's major ports, Augusta, on the east coast of Sicily, Ciane Anapo is part of the Novella Group, headed by Marco Novella, and specializes in coastal tanker and bunker operations.Frecciamare was completed as Chem Flower, the first of four identical vessels now being built by Çiçek Shipyard for its associated shipowning company White Tulip Shipping, based in Malta. White Tulip then sold Chem Flower to Ciane Anapo shortly after completion, leaving Çiçek to make some minor modifications to meet the new owner's requirements.Although Ciane Anapo intends to use this first vessel for bunkering duties, the four ships are flexible, all being capable of worldwide trading, transporting oil products, chemicals (IMO type II) and vegetable, animal and fish oils.MarineLine coatings were selected by Çiçek to give the ability to carry a wide range of cargoes while high manoeuvrability is guaranteed by the choice of twin azimuthing propellers and a bow thruster. They are classed by Bureau Veritas and constructed to meet Ice B standards.According to Berke Çiçek, Vice President of Cicek Shipyard, interest from European owners for such vessels is strong, despite the overall weak state of the shipping market. "New double-hulled vessels such as Frecciamare and her three sisters now under construction are in great demand to replace older tonnage and because we took the initiative to start construction to our own account, the new owners have benefited from an extremely short delivery period. We are talking to a number of other potential owners and charterers and are confident of finding buyers who can secure immediate and profitable employment for these vessels."We were interested to see that Frecciamare's owner Ciane Anapo envisages employing its new vessel in the bunker trades as we had identified this market as particularly attractive. Many bunker tankers are still single-hull and quite elderly. There is a replacement market and there is also a requirement for larger vessels like ours since average ship sizes continue to grow. Large containerships, for example, take on board substantial amounts of bunkers and they also expect a fast rate of delivery.""For the next three vessels, we are able to offer late changes in specification, for example in the choice of tank coatings, thus providing great flexibility when discussing potential charterers' precise requirements. We are, with due notice, able to make more radical changes, as might be requested by owners with specific employment in mind."The shipowner Ciane Anapo Spa was formed in 1967 by the merger of two shipping companies, Ciane and Anapo, named after two small rivers in the Syracuse area. Its full name, Ciane-Anapo, Compagnia di Navigazione e Bunkeraggi Spa, reflects its two lines of business: bunkering (transport of fuel oil, diesel and lube oil for vessels in port) and mainstream shipping, principally coastal.Anapo was set up in 1958 in Augusta, just north of Syracuse, and Ciane in 1959, and the merged company has had a branch office in Genoa since 1967. It carries out bunkering in these two ports under special licenses, which require the use of small tankers that load from coastal installations.Augusta is one of Italy's largest ports, a major centre for oil refining and a popular bunkering centre, being on the main east-west trade route through the Mediterranean. The shipbuilder Çiçek Shipyard is located on Tuzla Bay, near Istanbul, and in addition to the small tankers, its current orderbook includes 58,000dwt and 25,000dwt bulk carriers. It has a long track record of constructing chemical tankers from 8,000dwt up to 40,000dwt in size.The largest vessels are constructed in a 37m wide building dock while ships of up to 25,000dwt can be built on an adjacent slipway. The 3,100dwt tankers are being constructed on a second slipway, capable of building ships of up to 3,500dwt.