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.
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
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.BP Shipping Limited Companies House The BTC placed orders with two Tyneside based shipbuilders, Armstrong Whitworth and Swan Hunter, for a total of seven steam-powered oil tankers.The story of BP Shipping Ships Monthly June 2017 page 55
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.
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 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.
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.
Employing 2,800 people based mainly in London, Singapore and Chicago, at the end of 2006 BP Shipping managed: 57 vessels - four Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), one North Sea shuttle tanker, 42 medium size crude and product carriers, seven liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and three new liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers 24 regional vessels, including coasters 100 hydrocarbon-carrying vessels above 600 deadweight tonnes on time charter
Resulting in: The shipping of 270 million tonnes of cargo volume 7,000 voyages, of which at any time 450-500 cargoes are "on the water" On average two thirds of shipments are made by seagoing tankers, the rest via inland and harbour barges
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.
Other marine holdings include: BP Shipcare: a lay-up facility located in East Malaysia Alaska Tanker Company: minority shareholding in four purpose-built ships of 110,693 GT retained on time charter to transport crude oil from Alaska to US west coast ports. The ships are Alaskan Legend, Alaskan Explorer, Alaskan Frontier and Alaskan Navigator. China LNG Shipping: 40% shareholding in ship management service to LNG carriers serving the Guangdong LNG terminal
Fleet Retired ships ClassBuilderTypeShipsFlagPort of RegistryServiceNotes Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Shuttle Tanker (DP2) Loch Rannoch Lerwick, Shetland 1998–2013 Returned to owners, Knutsen OAS, September 2013P ClassSamsung Heavy IndustriesVLCC British PioneerDouglas, Isle of Man 1999–2011 Renamed Ridgebury PioneerScrapped 2018British Pride 2000–2016 Renamed Ridgebury Pride British Progress 2000–2016 Renamed Ridgebury Progress British Purpose 2000–2016 Renamed Ridgebury PurposeTree ClassTsuneishi ShipbuildingAframaxBritish BeechDouglas, Isle of Man 2003–2015 renamed Sea Beech British Hazel 2004–2016 renamed Sea Hazel British Holly 2004–2016 renamed Sea Holly British Vine 2004–2016 renamed Sea Vine
Active ships ClassBuilderTypeShips in ClassFlagPort of Registry in ServiceNotesBird ClassSamsung Heavy IndustriesAframaxBritish OspreyDouglas, Isle of Man2003 British Swift2003 British Robin2003British Curlew2004 British Cormorant2005 British Gannet2005 British Mallard2005 British Merlin2005 British Cygnet2005 British Falcon2006 British Eagle2006 British Kestrel2006E ClassHyundai Mipo DockyardMedium Range Products TankerBritish EsteemLondon2003 British Explorer2003 British EnvoyDouglas, Isle of Man2006 British Ensign2006 British Emissary London2007Virtue ClassHyundai Mipo DockyardLarge Range Product Tanker British IntegrityDouglas, Isle of Man2004 British Liberty2004British Loyalty2004 British Security2004 British Tenacity2004 British Unity2004 British Fidelity2004 British Chivalry2005 British Courtesy2005 British Harmony2005 British Serenity2005 British Tranquility2005C ClassMitsubishi Heavy IndustriesLiquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) CarrierBritish CommerceDouglas, Isle of Man2006 British Courage2006 British Councillor2007Trader ClassSamsung Heavy IndustriesLNG carrierBritish TraderDouglas, Isle of Man2002First Spot-market LNG carriers. British Innovator2002 British Merchant2003Gem ClassHyundai Heavy IndustriesLNG carrier British EmeraldDouglas, Isle of Man2007First Dual-Fuel Diesel-Electric (DFDE) LNG carriers. British Diamond2008 British Ruby2008 British Sapphire2008 Kawasaki Heavy Industries LNG carrier Northwest Shearwater Hamilton, Bermuda1991 Vessel operated for North West Shelf Venture.BargeBreko NieuwbouwLubricating Oil VictoriaRotterdam, Netherlands2005Operated by Verenigde Tankrederij Vanora2006V ClassDaewoo Shipbuilding & Marine EngineeringVLCC British VentureDouglas, Isle of Man2013 British Vantage2013R ClassSTX Offshore & ShipbuildingAframax British RespectDouglas, Isle of Man2016 British Resource2016 British Regard2016 British Renown2016 British Rigour2016 British Restraint2016 British Reliance2016 British Resolution2016 British Reason2016Century ClassSTX Offshore & ShipbuildingSuezmax British CenturyDouglas, Isle of Man2017 British Heritage2017 British Tradition2017Mariner ClassHyundai Mipo DockyardProduct Tanker British MarinerDouglas, Isle of Man2016 British Navigator2016 British Seafarer2016 British Sailor2016 British Cadet2016 British Captain2017 British Chief2017 British Officer2017 British Engineer2017Cloud ClassHyundai Mipo DockyardHandysize British CumulusDouglas, Isle of Man2016 British Nimbus2016 British Stratus2017 British Altus2017 British Cirrus2017Partnership ClassDaewoo Shipbuilding & Marine EngineeringLNG carrier British Partner Douglas, Isle of Man2018 British Achiever2018 British Contributor2018 British Listener2019 British Mentor2019 British Sponsor2019
References
External links BP Trading & Shipping