The 307,000-ton very large crude carrier (VLCC) Empire Hope was delivered in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, on March 25. It is the first vessel in this VLCC series that was made by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd.（DSIC） and China Shipbuilding Trading Co., Ltd., both of which are subsidiaries of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited.
The Empire Hope is a new-generation star VLCC independently developed and designed by DSIC. About 333 meters long and 60 meters wide, the vessel has a deck that covers 18,000 square meters. Its depth is 28 meters, and the distance from hull bottom to wheelhouse is nearly equal to the height of a 20-floor building. The overall coating areas surpass 540,000 square meters, the equivalent of 76 standard soccer fields.
With an optimized hull shape and the adoption of new technologies, the vessel is energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. It can adapt to various pathways and ports. When its draft reaches 20.5 meters, it can carry more than 2 million barrels of crude oil. It is equipped with an exhaust gas desulphurization system, reducing its fuel costs by about 35 million yuan ($5.06 million) annually. (....)