Oltenia - was built for Steaua Romana SA Pentru Industria Petroleului, Bucharest,Romania. In 1941 was seized by Britain and renamed Oltenia II SS. She was a Steam Tanker of 6,394 tons built in 1928. In 1930 the total tons transported was 87,000 tons. On the 8th january 1943 when on route from Trinidad to Gibraltar carrying a cargo of 9,086 tons of furnace oil, a consignment of 732 barrels of lubricating oil, 1,000 sten guns and 500,000 rounds of ammunition and tobacco she was torpedoed by German submarine U-436 and sunk by gunfire.
Lenght = 131,6 meters
Width = 16 meters
Able to load 500 tons per hour with 2 pumps
Capacity = 9400 tons
Oltenia oil tanker
Oltenia - another oil tanker with the same name was built in 1967 - the oil tanker "Oltenia" was built (flag: Romania, IMO: 6729529, 35,567 tdw., 22,243 trb., length: 190.00 m, width: 28.10 m, engine power: 16,500 hp, builder: 1967, "Hitachi-Zosen", Innoshima - Japan).
He also bore the names "Dona Margarita" (1982), "Bernardo Strozzi" (1985), "Burnoisland" (1986) and "Fal XX" (1987). It was scrapped in 1996. Sister ship: "Argeş" (February 1968 - Japan).
Oil tanker Oltenia
Independenţa (The Indepence) - was the first of a series of five Romanian supertankers which were constructed by Santierul Naval Constanţa in the 1980s.Independenţa was a 1977 Romanian-flagged crude oil carrier, the biggest ship of the Romanian commercial fleet at that time. She collided in 1979 with a Greek freighter at the southern entrance of Bosphorus, Turkey and exploded. She caught fire and grounded.From 17 to 27 November, there was slight leakage from the tanker. Another major explosion occurred onboard the vessel on the night of 6 December at 10:40 p.m., which resulted in more oil spillage.The slick from the vessel drifted towards the Port of Haydarpaşa, and the booms across its entrance could not prevent approximately 50 tons of oil entering the harbor. The tanker continued to burn until 14 December. Heavy oil contamination formed on the surface of the sea and on the heavily built-up shores and the recreational beaches of the Sea of Marmara and the Istanbul Strait.It was estimated that 30,000 tons of crude oil burned and that the remaining 64,000 tons spilled into the sea. Because of the rapid evaporation of the light components, the crude oil quickly sank to the bottom of the sea in an area approximately 5.5 km in diameter.
Independenta oil tanker on flames
On 1978, August 7 - the oil tanker "Unirea" was launched (flag: Romania, IMO: 7940493, code: YQIJ, owner: I.E.F.M. "Navrom" Constanta, steel hull and deck, 163,647 tdw., 88,285 trb., length : 302.60 m, width: 46.03 m, height: 22.54 m, draft: 17.37 m, crew: 43 members, no. of decks: 1, propulsion (main engine): "Kawasaki"/ MAN engine 1/ K9 SZ90/ 160, main engine power: 28,800 hp, speed: 16 Nd., autonomy: 18,000 Mm, weight of incorporated metal: about 24,000 tons, builder: 1979, Constanta Naval Shipyard, construction value: about 41 million U.S. dollars. )
The ship was registered at the Constanța Port Authority (registration no. 539) and was handed over to the beneficiary I.E.F.M. "Navrom" Constanta on October 30, 1979 (expert report no. 10/ 1478-ID-9).
Painting by Valentin Donici
The tanker UNIREA, November 1979, in the dry dock of the Constanța Naval Shipyard.
Biruinţa (The Victory) - Owned and managed by the then Romanian state owned Shipping Company (Navrom). In the 1990s the ship was passed to the Romanian private shipping company "Petromin", changing its name to Iris Star. Finally the ship was bought by the Romanian shipping company Histria Shipmanagement having its name changed again to Histria Crown. The ship was finally decommissioned after more than 20 years of service in 2006.
Libertatea (The Liberty) - had the same history (including ownership) as her older sister Biruinta with the only exception that the ship is still in operation under the name Histria Prestige.
Pacea (The Peace) - was never fully completed. Oil tanker built in 1957 at Rotterdam, Netherlands ( gross tonnage: 12,377tons ).At the end of the 1980s it was passed to Czechoslovakia as a part of Romania's foreign debt.
Bustenari - oil tanker(39000TDW) built in Galati.
Bucsani - oil tanker built in 1987(actual name is Histria Topaz)
Prahova - crude oil tanker built in 1987 at Constanta, Romania ( gross tonnage: 50,571tons ).
Moreni - oil tanker built in 1971 at Giurgiu Shipyard .As a matter of fact there was an American oil tanker named after Moreni (notorious Romanian oil center) sunk in battle on June,12 1917.
Standard Oil Steamer Moreni with a cargo of gasoline was fires 150 shots at U-Boat before she goes down.
The American tanker "Moreni", seen outbound river Douro, Oporto, 1914, Loa 113m/Lpp 108,1m/4.045gt, completed 11/1913 as "Meppen" by Seebeck Werft, Geestemunde, for Deutsche Amerikanische, Petroleum Ges., Hamburg; 1914 Moreni, Standard Oil Co., New York; 12/06/1917 attacked and sunken near Tabarca Island, near Santa Pola, Spain, Mediterranean Sea, after a two hours hard battle, from which were fired 150 shots against 200 from U-64, while on passage Baton Rouge for Leghorn, 43 saved and 4 lost: German captain congratulated the Moreni’s captain by his fight. The Steamship Moreni, owned and operated by the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, an American national, sailed from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, May 19, 1917, with a cargo of gasoline consigned to the Italian-American Oil Company at Savona, Italy, to call at Gibraltar for orders. She was armed for defensive purposes with two 4-inch guns, one fore and one aft, and manned with a civilian crew of 35 and a naval gun crew of 12. After calling at Gibraltar for orders she sailed from that port June 10, 1917,and on the morning of June 12 was fired upon and finally sunk by a German submarine after a running fight in which the Moreni endeavored to escape and in which 200 to 250 shots were fired by the submarine and about 150 shots by the Moreni.It is apparent that the Moreni was at the time of her destruction being privately operated for private profit as a merchant vessel, and for the reasons heretofore given the Commission holds that she does not fall within the excepted class.
Arges - on 10 September 1981 in the French port Rouen, when a fire started around the Romanian tanker Argeș, then under the command of Traian Băsescu, affecting a large portion of the River Seine. The fire destroyed two tugs and six barges, and major disaster was avoided when 70 French firemen from Rouen, Gran-Couronne, Grand-Quevily, Canteleu and Moulineaux prevented the fire from reaching the nearby Shell refinery. According to an interview given by Traian Băsescu to the Romanian TV channel Prima TV on 23 June 1998 (and quoted by Magazin Nautic, the official publication of the Romanian Nautical Club), Băsescu admitted to having made alterations to the ship's installation before the French investigators were allowed to come on board, a thing that — in Băsescu's own words — made it impossible for the investigators to link the cause of the disaster to the Romanian ship.
It was built on 1968, February (flag: Romania, IMO: 6806743, 36,150 tdw., 22,244 trb., length: 190.00 m, width: 28.30 m, builder: February 1968, "Hitachi Zosen ", Innoshima - Japan). It also bore the name "Larnaca" (1982). It was cut at Alang in June 1992.
Arges oil tanker built in 1968.
Banat - It was built at IHI Aioi / Japan, site number 2,370, being delivered to Navrom Constanta in January 1975.
It was used by Navrom Constanta to transport oil from Arab countries to the Midia-Navodari (Petromidia) refinery.
After 1990 he arrived at Petromin Constanta, following the division of Navrom Constanta into 3 companies: Petromin, Romline and Navrom.
From April 1995 it was chartered (bare-boat contract) to Histria Shipmanagement srl Constanta. It went into repairs at the Constanta Naval Shipyard. Upon their completion, in October 1995, its name was changed to HISTRIA SPIRIT, the flag being hoisted being the Maltese one.
It sailed until the spring of 2003, when it was sold for scrap for 3.61 million USD. It arrived in Chittagong/Bangladesh on 9.06.2003, being later dismantled.
Some characteristics of the oil tanker:
- Length: 242.11 m, width: 40.06 m, draft: 13.61 m
- IMO: 7372696
- Call sign: YQCU
- 86,105 tdw / 46,889 Gt
- powered by an engine made in Japan, Sulzer license, model 7RND90, developing 20,300 HP
- maximum speed: 15.7 Nd
- 3 diesel generators: 2 x 760 KW, 400V 50 HZ AC and 1 x 530 KW, 400V 50 HZ AC
- had 14 tanks that could store a total of 102,190 cubic meters of oil
- loading/unloading was done with the help of 3 pumps with a flow rate of 2,750 cubic meters/hour
- sister ships: Dacia, Crisana, Muntenia
Crisana - 1974, November - the oil tanker "Crişana" was built (flag: Romania, IMO: 7372684, code: YQCT, port of registration: Constanta, 77,000 dwt., 46,889 trb., 30,844 trn., length: 242.11 m, width : 40.06 m, height: 18.03 m, maximum draft: 13.61 m, crew: 40 members, no. of decks: 1, propulsion: engine type 7-RND-90, license: "Sulzer", builder: I.H.I. - Aioi, 1974, operating principle: diesel, reversible, 2-stroke, single effect, 7 cylinders, 900 x 1,550, 1ELC, speed: 122 revolutions/minute, machine power: 20,300 hp, 14,940 Kw., speed: 15, 7 Nd., boilers: 2CAUX-ACV-AZL, 415/ 16, 1CAUX-ACV-GEV, 268/ 7, auxiliary engine: 3 x 900 hp, B&W "Hitachi", generators: 2 x 760, 1 x 530 Kw. , 450V, 50 Hz., AC, fuel: fuel oil, bunker: 3,304 tons, navigation and radio communication equipment: gyrocompass, electric log, radar, radio direction finder, radio telephone, ultrasound probe, radio station, no. of tanks: 14, volume of tanks cargo: 102,190 m3, loading/unloading installation: 3 pumps x 2 .750 mc/h, builder: November 1974, "Ishikawajima - Harima", Aioi - Japan; launched on June 29, 1974).
It was cut at Aliaga in August 1999.
Sailing on Bosfor.
Crisana oil tanker
Muntenia - renamed "Histria Moon", ex-"Muntenia" (IMO: 7372672, owner: "Lime Light Shipping Ltd.", La Valetta - Malta, 86,093 tdw., built in 1974
Oil tanker Muntenia
Steaua Romana ( Steaua Romana Company ) with a capacity of 7,000 tons transported 69,000 tons of oil in 1930. In October 1940, when the German Military Mission entered Romania, the oil tankers "Oltenia" and "Steaua Română" were requisitioned by the British. The Romanian crews were disembarked and repatriated. The vessels entered the service of the English fleet and would later be sunk by naval mines.
<1940, 10 decembrie - fostul petrolier „Steaua Română“ (IMO: 1145188, 5.275 trb., construit în anul 1914), rechiziţionat de Marina Regală Britanică, a fost distrus de explozia unei mine, în punctul de coordonate 36° 13’ Nord/ 11° 59’ Est>
Barbu Stirbey ( Steaua Romana Company ) with a capacity of 3,650 tons transported 65,000 tons of oil in 1930
Campina ( Steaua Romana Company ) - The tanker located in Constanța, was leased to the German company Rumänien Mineralöl. In December 1941 it was sunk by a British submarine, which hit it with two torpedoes, while sailing near Patras, "under escort of an Italian auxiliary cruiser". The vessel had seawater ballast on board as cargo.
Adagena ( Steaua Romana Company ) - Caught on fire in the port of Constanta and ran aground near ''Viile vechi'' (wrecked on October 3, 1922)
Pallpetro ( Pallas company ) with a capacity of 685 tons transported 16,000 tons of oil in 1930
Caracal - Its construction began in 1984, at the Braila Naval Shipyard, site number 1293. The construction of the ship was completed in June 1989, the ship being handed over to the beneficiary - Navrom Constanta.
There were only two such oil tankers in our fleet: CARACAL and COSTESTI. Another 5 ships of this type were built for Cuba.
Also, several freighters for China were built on the same hull. Another freighter of the same type - ODOBESTI - was under construction for Romania, but it never sailed under the Romanian flag, being sold in Turkey directly from the construction site (the construction was already completed).
Returning to CARACAL, it arrived in 1990 at Petromin, with the split of Navrom Constanta. Since 1996, it has been operated by Histria Shipmanagement, its name being changed to HISTRIA PEARL.
At the end of 1998, Petromin approved the direct sale of the oil tanker to TSM (Technical Shiprepairs and Maintenance SRL) Constanta, against the sum of 1.38 million USD.
The ship continued to sail under the Romanian flag.
In 2001, the tanker was sold to Lefkaritis Bros Seaways of Cyprus. Its name was changed to PETROLINA, the new flag raised being the Cypriot one. He carried out his activity in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
In 2010, Hillaa Shipping Corp from Dubai was sold, its name being changed to HILLAA. The flag raised was the Panamanian flag. It was used in the Persian Gulf area.
In November 2017, it was sold for scrap. He arrived at Alang, where he was put ashore on November 10.
Some features of the ship:
- IMO: 8914180 (MMSI: 372393000)
- Length: 102.73 m, width: 16.42 m, draft: 6.8 m
- 4,970 tdw / 3,932 Gt
- double body
- propulsion provided by an engine manufactured at UCM Resita, MAN license, model 6L40/54A, developing 3,750 HP.
- maximum speed: 13.5 Knots
- it had 16 tanks that could store a total of 5,320 cubic meters.
- equipped with 3 bigs: 2 x 5t SWL, 1 x 1.6t SWL (in the stern)
Caracal oil tanker.