Kherson Shipyard (KhSY) handed over to the customer its third and last tanker in a series of RST27 design vessels built for SVL Group (Malta).

KhSY and SVL signed contracts for the construction of three complete RST27 tankers in October 2011. The total contract price was above USD 50 million.

According to the Press Service, the lead tanker, SVL Liberty, was turned over to the customer in March, and the second vessel, SVL Loyalty, in July.

The vessels are reported to have been built ‘at a high quality level and in full compliance with the new international requirements.’

The new ship is designed for the sea and combined-type (‘river-sea’) transportation of crude oil and oil products, including petrol, with no flash point limitations, and can handle simultaneous transportation of two cargo varieties.

The project was designed by the Marine Engineering Bureau (MEB, Odessa). The vessel's overall length is 140.85 meters, its width being 16.86 meters, and its hull height – 6 meters. The total holding capacity of six cargo tanks and two slop tanks is 8,100 cubic meters, the sea deadweight is 6,980 tonnes with the water-draught of 4.20 meters, the river deadweight is 5,378 tonnes with the water-draught of 3.60 meters; the vessel's operational speed is 10 knots.

Special requirements of oil companies have been taken into account in the design of the tanker, as well as additional environmental limitations of the respective ECO Project (ECO-S) class of the Russian Marine Register of Shipping. The tankers match the dimensions of the Volga-Don Ship Canal and the Volga-Baltic Waterway and are fully compliant with the new international requirements.

'This contract was an important landmark for our company, as KhSY was the only company in Ukraine that resumed construction of complete tankers after a sustained interruption. All the tankers have passed the sea trials successfully and demonstrated excellent seaworthiness. Successful performance of the contract makes us hopeful that our cooperation with SVL will continue and opens up prospects of securing new contracts in the near future,' said Oleg Fedak, the General Director of KhSY.

KhSY together with Chernomorsky Shipbuilding Yard (ChSY, Nikolaev) belongs to Smart Maritime Group (SMG), the shipbuilding sub-holding company of Vadim Novinsky's Smart-Holding.

According to SMG, 2013 book of orders of the shipbuilding company approximately totals USD 136 million to date.