CSSC Chengxi hands over Palanca Tokyo, completing asphalt carrier series

CSSC Chengxi Shipyard delivered the 17,000 dwt asphalt carrier PALANCA TOKYO on 27 August, completing a three-vessel series built for Kumiai Senpaku Co., Ltd.

The ship is the third of the type handed over to the Japanese owner, following the successful delivery of the first two vessels in the programme. She carries a single-propeller, single-rudder configuration and is powered by a low-speed diesel engine.

The design is intended primarily for transporting high-temperature liquid cargoes such as asphalt and refined petroleum products. She has an overall length of 160 metres, a beam of 23.5 metres, a design draft of 8.5 metres and a service speed of 13.5 knots.

Asphalt carriers occupy a narrow corner of the tanker market. Cargo has to be kept hot enough to remain pumpable throughout the voyage, which puts heating coils, insulation and cargo-tank coating specification at the centre of the design rather than at its margins. Fleets in the trade are small and orders come in short runs, so a three-ship series for a single owner represents a substantial share of a yard's exposure to the segment.

The shipyard said it drew on technical expertise accumulated across the earlier deliveries, integrating standardised processes and refined control into the construction of the final ship, and employing detailed planning to improve production efficiency across the build.

Completing a series rather than delivering a single unit is what gives a builder the repeat-build learning curve that shortens each subsequent berth cycle, which is the economics that make short series in specialist segments viable at all.