Cargo vessel St James Park. GULF OF ADEN, (January 2, 2010)

2 января 2010 танкер-химовоз под флагом Великобритании St. James Park, который 28 декабря 2009 года был захвачен в Аденском заливе прибыл на пиратскую базу в Хобио. В составе экипажа из 26 человек 3 россиянина, 2 украинца, 2 румына, 1 грузин, 1 поляк, 3 филиппинца, 6 индийцев и 3 турка.

St.James Park: Танкер химовоз, дедвейт 13924 тонн, год постройки 1993, оператор Societe Anonyme Monegasque d'Administration Maritime et Aerienne (SAMAMA).

St James Park is the ship, which was highly discussed last days, due to hijacking of Somali Pirates. The ship is chemical tanker with deadweight of 13,924 metric tons and gross tonnage of 7,926 gross tons. The ship is quite large for chemical tanker, carrying dangerous cargoes from class B. The net tonnage of the chemical tanker is 4,736. The cargo vessel St James Park (or Saint James Park as it is also known) has length of 132.00 meters and the beam is 20.50 meters. The depth of the ship is 8.80 meters and the draft, when fully loaded can reach 7.90 meters.

The ship is sailing under the Great Britain’s flag for the company Zodiac Maritime Agencies Ltd. The chemical tanker was built in 1993 and is sailing for the company through all the years. The chemical tanker is carrying usually manufacture of plastics and sailing on voyages between Western Europe and Asia. The ship has 30 cargo tanks divided into 3 groups – 10 central, 10 from starboard and 10 from port. Also there are 2 slop tanks for tank cleaning and storage of the dirty water.

The capacity of the cargo tanks is 16,207 cubic meters and the displacement of the ship is 17,792 metric tons. The ship is quite modern built according to the requirements of IMO and SOLAS for chemical tankers built before 1993. The vessel has strong engine MAN B&W providing enough power for the ship to reach 13.5 knots maximum speed. The service speed of the ship under ballast is 13.0 knots. The fuel consumption of the vessel with such speed is 13.00 metric tons heavy fuel and 0.30 metric tons diesel oil per day.

The chemical tankers are usually some of the most dangerous cargo ships at all. They are carrying different chemicals, which can cause explosions, air pollution or heavy water pollution. That is why the restrictions for such vessels are very high. The ship St James Park is equipped to carry all kind of cargoes, including the most dangerous chemicals. Due to old age, usually such vessels are not carrying high dangerous cargoes, but in all cases are carrying very expensive ones. This is the main reason such cargo ships to be attacked by pirates often.