BP Shipping

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BP Shipping
FormerlyBP Tanker Company
Industry Shipping
Predecessor British Tanker Company
Founded1956
Headquarters Sunbury-on-Thames, England
Area served
Europe
Iran
India
Singapore
Chicago
Revenue£1.4 billion (2024)
£212 million (2024)

BP Shipping is the maritime arm of British headquartered global oil company, BP. The unit covers the marine transport, logistics and insurance requirements of all BP's global activities.

Contents

Formed in 1956 as the BP Tanker Company, its roots go back to the British Tanker Company, which was formed to carry products for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. It is hence the oldest continuous business unit in the BP group. The company changed its name to BP Shipping in 1981 to encompass its marine insurance activities, and in 2006 transported 251.7 million tonnes of crude and products, representing around 5% of the world's sea borne oil movements

Origins

British Tanker Company

British Emperor, launched in 1916 British Emperor 1916.jpg
British Emperor, launched in 1916

Having initially employed independent contractors to carry its oil from Persia (now Iran) back to Europe and into India, in April 1915 the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) set up the British Tanker Company (BTC) in April 1915, with an initial capital of £100,000. [1] The BTC placed orders with two Tyneside based shipbuilders, Armstrong Whitworth and Swan Hunter, for a total of seven steam-powered oil tankers. [2]

The BTC's first tanker was the 3,663 gross tonnage British Emperor, launched in 1916. The names of all the first seven ships bore the prefix "British", and all future additions to the fleet have followed the same naming convention. The 60th ship was the new flagship, the 6,998 gross tonnage British Aviator, BTC's first diesel engined oil tanker, and was at that time the most powerful single-screw motor ship in the world.

Through steadying of relationships with the Shah of Iran, APOC managed to strengthen its position within the industry during the Great Depression. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the British government chartered the BTC's whole fleet of 93 vessels, to transport fuel for its armed forces. The fleet lost 41 ships sunk during the war, with two others so badly damaged they could only be used as storage hulks.[ citation needed ]

BP Tanker Company

In November 1954, APOC renamed itself the British Petroleum Company, and in 1956 the BTC became the BP Tanker Company (BPTC). By the end of the 1950s, the BPTC's fleet stood at 146 vessels, including supertankers of 38,000 gross tonnage (67,000 deadweight tonnes), with plans to build tankers of 60,000 gross tonnage (100,000 deadweight tonnes), which would hold more than 25 million US gallons (95,000 m3) of crude oil. A significant development of the tanker fleet was seen in the building of the British Admiral, the first 100,000 dwt tanker built in Europe and launched at Barrow-in-Furness in 1965 by Elizabeth II. [3]

In 1981 the company was renamed BP Shipping Limited to reflect its changing role in managing the tanker fleet.

Operations

Today, while BP Shipping remains responsible within the group for all water-born logistics, much of its fleet capacity is gained through hiring other operators vessels. The result is that it is also responsible for marine assurance on everything that is sited within or floats on water. [4]

Employing 2,800 people based mainly in London, Singapore and Chicago, at the end of 2006 BP Shipping managed: [4]

Resulting in: [4]

The marine insurance activity covers 800-900 miscellaneous craft such as tugs, crew boats, barges and seismic vessels used in support of BP group business around the world. All are vetted, with policy being that BP Shipping considers a vessel to be unacceptable unless positively identified otherwise. Of the 4,700 inspections in 2006, half resulted in an initial rejection. [4]

Other marine holdings include: [4]

Fleet

Retired ships

ClassBuilderTypeShipsFlagPort of RegistryServiceNotes
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Shuttle Tanker (DP2)Loch RannochCivil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Lerwick, Shetland 19982013Returned to owners, Knutsen OAS, September 2013
P Class Samsung Heavy Industries VLCC British PioneerCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 19992011Renamed Ridgebury Pioneer
Scrapped 2018
British Pride20002016Renamed Ridgebury Pride
British Progress20002016Renamed Ridgebury Progress
British Purpose20002016Renamed Ridgebury Purpose
Tree Class Tsuneishi Shipbuilding Aframax British BeechCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 2003–2015renamed Sea Beech
British Hazel2004–2016renamed Sea Hazel
British Holly2004–2016renamed Sea Holly
British Vine2004–2016renamed Sea Vine

Active ships

ClassBuilderTypeShips in ClassFlagPort of Registryin ServiceNotes
Bird Class Samsung Heavy Industries AframaxBritish OspreyCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 2003
British Swift2003
British Robin2003
British Curlew2004
British Cormorant2005
British Gannet2005
British Mallard2005
British Merlin2005
British Cygnet2005
British Falcon2006
British Eagle2006
British Kestrel2006
E Class Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Medium Range Products TankerBritish EsteemCivil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom London 2003
British Explorer2003
British EnvoyCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 2006
British Ensign2006
British EmissaryCivil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom London 2007
Virtue Class Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Large Range Product TankerBritish IntegrityCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 2004
British Liberty2004
British Loyalty2004
British Security2004
British Tenacity2004
British Unity2004
British Fidelity2004
British Chivalry2005
British Courtesy2005
British Harmony2005
British Serenity2005
British Tranquility2005
C Class Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) CarrierBritish CommerceCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 2006
British Courage2006
British Councillor2007
Trader Class Samsung Heavy Industries LNG carrier British TraderCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 2002First Spot-market LNG carriers.
British Innovator2002
British Merchant2003
Gem Class Hyundai Heavy Industries LNG carrierBritish EmeraldCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 2007First Dual-Fuel Diesel-Electric (DFDE) LNG carriers.
British Diamond2008
British Ruby2008
British Sapphire2008
Kawasaki Heavy Industries LNG carrierNorthwest ShearwaterFlag of Bermuda.svg  Bermuda Hamilton, Bermuda 1991Vessel operated for North West Shelf Venture.
Barge Breko Nieuwbouw Lubricating OilVictoriaFlag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Rotterdam, Netherlands 2005Operated by Verenigde Tankrederij
Vanora2006
V Class Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering VLCC British VentureCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 2013
British Vantage2013
R Class STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Aframax British RespectCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 2016
British Resource2016
British Regard2016
British Renown2016
British Rigour2016
British Restraint2016
British Reliance2016
British Resolution2016
British Reason2016
Century Class STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Suezmax British CenturyCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 2017
British Heritage2017
British Tradition2017
Mariner Class Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Product TankerBritish MarinerCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 2016
British Navigator2016
British Seafarer2016
British Sailor2016
British Cadet2016
British Captain2017
British Chief2017
British Officer2017
British Engineer2017
Cloud Class Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Handysize British CumulusCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 2016
British Nimbus2016
British Stratus2017
British Altus2017
British Cirrus2017
Partnership Class Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering LNG carrierBritish PartnerCivil Ensign of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man 2018
British Achiever2018
British Contributor2018
British Listener2019
British Mentor2019
British Sponsor2019

References

  1. BP Shipping Limited Companies House
  2. The story of BP Shipping Ships Monthly June 2017 page 55
  3. Bellamy, Martin (2022). "Editorial". The Mariner's Mirror . 108 (4). Society for Nautical Research: 387. doi:10.1080/00253359.2022.2117453.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "BP Shipping". BP. Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  5. "Fleet". Alaska Tanker Company. Retrieved 13 July 2017.