# Question for tanker "anoraks"!



## Steve Hodges (Feb 12, 2007)

This occurred to me when looking at a photo in the gallery of the "Idemitsu Maru" - was she the largest-ever tanker built with bridge midships, or were there bigger ones?
I was also wondering if the engineers were housed in the midships accomodation - if so, it must have been a helluva trek going on and off watch, 'specially if it was raining!!
Over to you, tanker anoraks.....


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## Ron Davies (Dec 30, 2008)

Reckon you need an anorak to keep warm at the moment. 

The only bigger VLCC with bridge amidships was ENERGY TRANSPORT built '69 at Sasebo and 217154 mt dwt.... which had several aft bridge near sisters. They were all pretty common around N Europe discharge ports in the seventies. A slightly smaller one, the SHOJU MARU, built by I.H.I., like the IDEMITSU MARU , made up the only three VLCCs with the mid & aft profile. 

Cheers, Ron


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## Steve Hodges (Feb 12, 2007)

Thanks, Ron. Since you gave that answer with confident assurance I will take it as gospel! I'm quite surprised that there were no more.
Regards
Steve H


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## Bill Davies (Sep 5, 2007)

Steve Hodges said:


> This occurred to me when looking at a photo in the gallery of the "Idemitsu Maru" - was she the largest-ever tanker built with bridge midships, or were there bigger ones?
> I was also wondering if the engineers were housed in the midships accomodation - if so, it must have been a helluva trek going on and off watch, 'specially if it was raining!!
> Over to you, tanker anoraks.....


Could not give a definitive answer to this one but I never sailed in Tanker with midship accomodation that housed engineers.
Further, I was always of the opinion that the 'Idemitsu Maru' was the largest tanker built with amidships accomodation. There is always a possibility that others were 'jumboized'.


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## marco nista (Jan 29, 2008)

> Could not give a definitive answer to this one but I never sailed in Tanker with midship accomodation that housed engineers.


Did'nt BP have some classes that had the Engineers living midships ?

They could usually be recognised by massive midships houses & one less deck down aft.

An example -

http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=104940

One for the BP men to answer maybe.

Biggest tanker that I sailed on with midships accommodation was the 54,000 dwt 1962-blt MOBIL ENDURANCE, quite an elegant tanker as tankers go once you got used to the bright blue accommodation.

73s

Marco


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## Ron Davies (Dec 30, 2008)

Guess the mid & aft profile had just about died when the VLCCs appeared in numbers. It is quite surprising that the ENERGY TRANSPORT was built so late in that guise. Some unusual looking ones appeared in the early VLCC days, the nearest other to being bridge amidships being A M Nomikos' KING ALEXANDER THE GREAT', where the aft superstructure was built lengthways along the top of the aft tanks with the bridge about threequarters aft. Fred Olsen had theirs built with Triangular tower bridges, but at the aft end. Very striking looking vessels, all of them. Strange to think that the VLCC is a concept well over 40 years old now....Even so, todays's 2 million barrel standard size is about 50% bigger overall than in the first days. Curiously that is achieved within roughly the same length of vessel . 

Cheers, Ron


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## loylobby (Sep 23, 2007)

When I sailed on the 70000 ton Shell tanker Zaphon as 3/0 my cabin was in the "midhships" accommodation. 

Only thing was the midships block was sitting on top of the aft accommodation block which was how they jumboised her. 

Chopped off everything forward of the pumproom, lifted midships accommodation and plonked it on top of the aft, stuck a large tomato sauce bottle as a funnel and stuck on a brand new hull. Strange having the centrecastle and loads of stores half way up the accommodation.


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## Oz. (Sep 6, 2005)

BP Explorer (I think it was ex British Robin) had Engineers in midship accomodation. My cabin was great, it was ex cadets/apprentice cabin . port side with a view looking aft. It was huge, with windows aft and port side, spare bunks swung up made it even more roomy. I may stand corrected but I think it was a 'Bird' class BP ship.


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## Geoff_E (Nov 24, 2006)

BP's 35,000 (Energy, Architect etc.), 44,000 (Ambassador, Prestige etc.) classes certainly had engineers living midships as did the "16's" & "Bird Boats". The only midships vessels in my time (70's & 80's) , where the engineers lived aft, were some of the 50,000 class (Queen). Though some of this class had all-aft accommodation.


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## Archie NS (Aug 31, 2008)

*B.t.c.*

The B.T.C. ships I sailed on from the mid 50's to the mid 60's all had engineers accomodation midships, the only two I sailed on with accomodation aft were the British Robin and the British Kestrel, both in the early 60's. I seem to remember coming off watch in heavy weather, peering round the edge of the aft accomodation on the lee side then making a mad dash between waves along the flying bridge to midships!!


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## greektoon (Oct 17, 2008)

I sailed on a 21,000 ton dwt tanker with midships / aft accommodation. The master, mates, r/o, chief steward and cadets were midships. The engineers and crew were aft. The dining saloon was also aft which meant dodging wave spray shipped on deck in heavy weather when going along the flying bridge for chop.


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

The 'Regent Pembroke' (later 'Texaco Pembroke') was 63,000 dwt and had midships accommodation for the OM, mates and R/O. All others and the public rooms, i.e. the saloon and smoke room, were accommodated down aft. There was a tunnel running from below the centrecastle to the aft accommodation but it was so hot and smelly, and you got so hot and grubby going up and down the metal access ladders, that you almost needed a shower after using it. On that ship we wore whites in the tropics and the tunnel was death to them.

It had to be really rough before you would use the tunnel to go for a meal.


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## Superlecky (Apr 15, 2006)

Generally the post WWII British flag tankers with a midships bridge which were owned by British companies, such as BP, had the engineers accomodation midships. Those that were owned by US companies, such as Esso and Texaco, had the engineers accomodation aft.

P&O, being P&O, had all the engineers on the lowest midships deck, which was clearly labelled 'Engineers' Accomodation' on the ships plans and all of the deck officers on the deck above which was labelled 'Officers' Accomodation'. Even in the late 1950's P&O wouldn't accept that the engineers were officers and gentleman!


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## Tam Broon (Apr 4, 2008)

The only mid-ships accommodation tanker that I sailed on was the RFA Brambleleaf in 1970, 12,000 ton (I think) and 25 years old. All officers and engineers were housed mid-ships with the crew aft. The dining saloon was mid-ships with the galley aft. I remember one really bad crossing of the atlantic from Curacao to Gibraltar when the 4-8 watch was stuck aft for almost 24 hours, it certainly wasn't much fun for them but at least they had the galley and hot food. If viewed from an aircraft during this crossing we would have been a horific sight with only the mid-ships and aft accommodation visible above water. We made the crossing in 21 days but did make it in the end. However, according to the surveyor who surveyed the ship after discharge and before drydock we had only just made it. He reckoned that if the ship had been welded rather than rivetted there might have been a different outcome.


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## Greek Tanker boffin (Dec 25, 2020)

Ron Davies said:


> Guess the mid & aft profile had just about died when the VLCCs appeared in numbers. It is quite surprising that the ENERGY TRANSPORT was built so late in that guise. Some unusual looking ones appeared in the early VLCC days, the nearest other to being bridge amidships being A M Nomikos' KING ALEXANDER THE GREAT', where the aft superstructure was built lengthways along the top of the aft tanks with the bridge about threequarters aft. Fred Olsen had theirs built with Triangular tower bridges, but at the aft end. Very striking looking vessels, all of them. Strange to think that the VLCC is a concept well over 40 years old now....Even so, todays's 2 million barrel standard size is about 50% bigger overall than in the first days. Curiously that is achieved within roughly the same length of vessel .
> 
> Cheers, Ron


Alexander the Great..was not owned by AM Nomikos. AM was established in 1981 .it was owned by Nomikos London Ltd....est. 1937


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## captainconfusion (Aug 13, 2020)

Gents the shell tankers of the 60,s tank cleaning off south sfrica during the suez crisis


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## captainconfusion (Aug 13, 2020)

captainconfusion said:


> Gents the shell tankers of the 60,s tank cleaning off south sfrica during the suez crisis


the malpasa and one other, were the realisation that aft construction was safer for accommodation pruposes,at that time the largest mid ships tanker were owned by the greeks onasis and globic tank shipssome where in excess of 120k dwt tankers. Then we had inert gas, and again miships for navigational purposes and possibly accommodation in the 220kdwt tankers become viable


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## stuartcooper35 (6 mo ago)

Ron Stringer said:


> The 'Regent Pembroke' (later 'Texaco Pembroke') was 63,000 dwt and had midships accommodation for the OM, mates and R/O. All others and the public rooms, i.e. the saloon and smoke room, were accommodated down aft. There was a tunnel running from below the centrecastle to the aft accommodation but it was so hot and smelly, and you got so hot and grubby going up and down the metal access ladders, that you almost needed a shower after using it. On that ship we wore whites in the tropics and the tunnel was death to them.
> 
> It had to be really rough before you would use the tunnel to go for a meal.











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## P.Arnold (Apr 11, 2013)

marco nista said:


> Did'nt BP have some classes that had the Engineers living midships ?
> 
> 
> Biggest tanker that I sailed on with midships accommodation was the 54,000 dwt 1962-blt MOBIL ENDURANCE, quite an elegant tanker as tankers go once you got used to the bright blue accommodation.
> ...


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## stuartcooper35 (6 mo ago)

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