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Esso Rotterdam (2) - (1959-1970)
Technical Information Esso Rotterdam
T.S.S. “ESSO ROTTERDAM”,

Built : by C. van der Giessen & Zonen's Scheepswerven NV., Krimpen ad. IJssel

From : Holland Shipbuilding

The first of two single-screw steam turbine-driven oil tankers ordered from C. van der Giessen & Zonen's Scheepswerven NV.,
Krimpen ad. IJssel, has recently been delivered. This vessel, the “Esso Rotterdam”,:35,690 tons d.w.t., has been constructed for
the Esso Tankvaart Maatschappij NV., The Hague. Designed by the Esso Shipping Company New York, the ship, which is the
largest vessel so far built upstream of the Rotterdam bridges, was later streamlined and given a modern appearance by C. van
der Giessen. The sister ship is still under construction.
The keel of the ship was laid down on the builders No. 5 slipway, where ships of up to 50,000 tons d.w.t. can be constructed, on
May 23, 1958. This ceremony was performed by Dr. J. Klaasesz the Queen's Governor for the Province of South Holland, in the
presence of the mayor of Krimpen a.d. IJssel, members of the board of Esso Nederland NV. and members of the board of C. van
der Giessen.
The ship was launched on April 4, 1959, the naming ceremony being performed by Mrs. McFadding-Kruiter, wife of Mr. H. D.
McFaddin, the shareholders representative in Scandinavia of the Standard Oil Company (New Jersey).

The principal characteristics of the ship are as follows:

Length overall
690'-0" = 210.33 meter  
Length b.p
660'-0' = 201.20 meter  
Breadth moulded .
90' 0" = 27.45 meter  
Depth
47'-0" = 14.33 meter  
Draught (salt water)  
35'-0 1/2" = 10.68 meter  
Deadweight in tons of 1016 kg  
35.550 ton  
Cargo capacity, tank
1,561,075 cu.ft. - 44,205 cu.m
Capacity of bunkers and deep tanks
4,697 cu.m.
Maximum vermogen  
17.600 S.H.P.  
Normal output
16.000 S.H.P. at 100 r.p.m.
Trial speed, loaden at 16.000 S.H.P.
17 knots

The ship has been built to the rules of the American Bureau of Shipping and meets the requirements of the Netherlands Shipping
Inspectorate. Of all welded construction, the hull is subdivided as follows: forepeak, two deep tanks placed one abaft the other, a
cofferdam, the cargo section and main pump room. Twin longitudinal bulkheads have been fitted and these, together with the ten
transverse bulkheads, divide the cargo space into 33 tank compartments. The pump room has a single bulkhead in the centre line of
the ship. A cofferdam has been arranged on either side of the pump room. Aft of this again are the bunkers which extend to within
the machinery space. The settling tanks are partly built in the pump room top.
The engine room is separated from the boiler room and the machinery space aft of this by a watertight bulkhead. A watertight door
below gives access to the after machinery space, while another watertight door in way of the boiler deck gives access to the boiler
room. The after peak is located abaft the machinery space.
Forward, a small pump room is built in the aftermost deep tank. A dry-cargo hold has been arranged above these spaces and
various store rooms as well as chain-lockers are located in the same vicinity.

Deck Equipment. A single mast without derricks is placed on the forecastle deck and there is a signal mast on the wheelhouse
top. A pair of derrick posts, each with a 5-ton derrick attached, is placed in the after well for the handling of the cargo hoses. A
Clarke, Chapman steam windlass is fitted. It is capable of handling 2 15/16 in. Ego stud link cable with stockless bower anchors
of the “Spek” type, each having a weight of 8.5 tons. The ship is equipped with automatic mooring winches constructed by
Friedrich Kocks G.m.b.H. under license of the American Engineering Company. Three winches are placed on the poop deck,
four on the main deck and three on the forecastle deck. A double barreled cargo winch is placed at the derrick posts.
The barrel of this type of winch as originally constructed under license was situated very low. The mooring rope could be given out
directly only to one side and for the other side use had to be made of a special type of fairlead. European requirements, however,
turned out to be different from those in the United States. Friedrich Kocks thus adapted the winches to the European needs and
so the winches on board the present vessel enable mooring ropes to be given out to two sides. On request of the owners the
winches in this case were not provided with an automatic installation. If required this device can easily be fitted, so that the winches
will equalize automatically changes of the position of the vessels due to the tides, loading or unloading. Winches of this description
enable the lines to hold the ship always tight in her berth. Such a device can be of considerable advantage. It is claimed by the
manufacturers that a total of DM 59,200 can be saved for one vessel making 24 round trips per year, including three dockings and
one harbor shift per trip. The ship's harbor time and wages are reduced by DM 40,800 due to fast and simple docking and the further
cost reduction amounting to DM 18,400 is obtained by using steel wire lines instead of Manila rope.
The Esso Rotterdam is also fitted with eleven towing chocks with self-aligning sheaves which align themselves to the proper lead of
the mooring lines, remove the kinking and sharp bends in the wires and have tongues which lift automatically to permit the bight
of the lines to pass through. Wear is therefore considerably reduced, while mooring operations are carried out quickly and
with a minimum of manpower.

The mooring winches placed on board the Esso Rotterdam are of the two-cylinder type with a 12-in bore, a 14-in stroke and
operating at 171 r.p.m. Developing 79 h.p. per cylinder at a steam pressure of 7-10 atm, they exert a pull of 14 tons at 7 1/2 atm.
At a pull of 18.6 tons and a pressure of 7 1/2 atm. the barrel unwinds against the steam pressure if the brake is not applied.
The brake is suitable-for-40 tons.
The lifesaving gear includes two light-alloy lifeboats placed on the upper bridge deck amidships and two similar boats p1aced on
the boat deck aft. Two of these boats, each seating 41 persons, are motor boats, the other boats are rowing boats, each seating
44 persons. Each of the motorboats is equipped with a water-cooled one-cylinder four-stroke Coventry Victor
diesel engine type
WD 3 of 9-11 h.p. at 1500-2000 r.p.m. The engines drive the screw through an O.K. reverse reduction gear with 2 : 1 reduction.
The lifeboats are carried in gravity davits of the “Normal Deck” type manufactured by the Davit Company. Single electric boat
winches are fitted. The steering engine is of the four-ram electric-hydraulic type manufactured by Brown Bros & Co., Ltd. Edinburgh.
Navigational equipment includes Observator magnetic compasses and a set of Sperry equipment comprising a Mark XIV gyro
compass with two bearing repeaters with stand an azimuth circle, a Sperry/Brown gyro-hydraulic steering control with Mark
III after power unit, a course recorder and a rudder angle system consisting of a rudder angle transmitter and three rudder angle
indicators. The ship is also fitted with the new Decca True Motion radar type 909, while a van der Heem VHF radio telephone
installation in included in the navigational aids.
Radio Holland have fitted a comprehensive range of communications equipment and wireless aids to navigation. The communications
of this vessel will be handled by the Well-tried marine transmitter (Svenska) MT250 and the receiver type BX 925L. The transmitter will
operate a radio-telegraph service on medium and high frequencies with facilities for radio telephony on the FM frequency band.
The 80-Watt transmitter “Renovas” and the receiver type BC 348 have been installed for emergency use. The ship carries a
“Seaguard” automatic alarm equipment and a “Marinetta” lifeboat transmitter/receiver. A Lodestone radio D.F. will provide wireless
bearings under conditions of poor visibility. The echo sounder type MS26B of Kelvin Hughes is used in conjunction with the XIS 25
indicator of the  “flashing light” type. Three special aerial amplifiers type AV 5607 will enable broadcast programmes to be relayed
through 62 terminal outlet boxes to all cabins of the vessel. Included in the ship's equipment is a Walter Kidde C02 fire-fighting
installation and three frost-proof Mini-max foam fire extinguishers, type P 10 EK, each with a capacity of ten litres, as well as a
number of Saval fire extinguishers. De Boer supplied other foam firefighting equipment.
Cargo s handled by four horizontal centrifugal Stork cargo pumps, type HGT 60-40/30, each having a capacity 1350 cu.m./h against
a head of 108 m. These pumps are driven by Werkspoor OT steam turbines, placed in the engine room and having an output of
700 h.p. The cargo pumps are placed in the main pump room where there are also one ballast pump and two skipping pumps,
one of which can also be used as a bilge pump. In the small pump room forward there is a fuel pump with a capacity of 320 tons
and a bilge/ballast pump with a capacity of 160 tons.
The ship is fitted with “Winel” pressure relief valves and with Bolaco pressure relief valves and flame arrestors. For quick and
easy reading of ullages the ship is equipped with ullage sounding gear at all tanks, enabling ullages to be read immediately
at every single tank. All the cargo tanks are cathodically protected, while No. 8 wing tanks have been painted with 5 coats of
“Artonex Resistent”, an epoxy resin-based type of paint.

Living Accommodation. The living accommodation is disposed over the deckhouses amidships and aft. The navigating officers'
cabins, the officers' recreation room, the owner's cabins, medical officers' cabin, consulting room, hospital and fan room are
arranged in the midships deckhouse, while the crew's quarters are situated on the main deck aft, each crew member having a
single-berth cabin at his disposal. Steel cabin doors are fitted to these quarters. The cabins of the P.0's, the engineer officers
and the chief engineer's suite, the officers' mess room, crew's recreation room, engineer officers' recreation room, and cinema
are arranged on the higher decks of this deck-house top. The galley and the provision stores are also situated aft.
The living accommodation is of a very high standard with partition walls, lining and ceiling consisting of incombustible “Marinite”
sheets increasing the protection against fire. For the furnishing use was made of foam rubber and which was applied on a
large scale in attractive designs and colors. Vredestein rubber flooring was applied to the stairways and in other parts of the
accommodation. The ship is air-conditioned throughout, with mechanical ventilation in the pump room.
The ship is air conditioned as well as mechanically ventilated by Bronswerk. The air-conditioning system applied is the Du-O-Duct
system which enables climatic conditions in each cabin and public space to be controlled individually. In this system use is
made of air supply through two parallel ducts. One of these ducts conveys air of a high temperature and the other air of a much
lower temperature. These two air streams can he mixed as required in each separate compartment and consequently the temp-
erature can be regulated.Three units of the type SSA4 are applied in this air conditioning system. Each unit consists of an upper
and lower cabinet which are mounted in a frame. Air treatment takes place in the upper cabinet. This houses the air filters, cooler,
heater and humidifier.
The lower cabinet houses the cooling equipment, such as the compressor, condenser and the instrument panel.
Exhaust fans are applied in the sanitary spaces, galley, laundry and pump room, the latter being of special construction in con-
nection with the danger of explosion existing in this compartment.

Machinery Installation The main propelling machinery consists of a Werkspoor/Pametrada steam turbine installation consisting
of a H.P. and a L.P. turbine which drive the single four-bladed Lips propeller though a De Schelde double-reduction gearing. The
normal output of this machinery is 16.000 s.h.p. at 100 r.p.m. of the screw, the maximum output is 17,600 s.h.p. at 103 r.p.m.
The main condenser is placed athwart ships under the L.P. turbine.
The steam turbine installation operates in conjunction with two Werkspoor-Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers, producing
steam of 860 p.s.ig. and a temperature of 860 deg. F. at super heater outlet. Practically the whole of the machinery installation
has been supplied by Netherlands firms. The closed feed system is by Werkspoor and the arrangement is similar to that used in
a number of Shell tankers and other vessels equipped by this firm. Bailey combustion and feed water control is installed,
supplied together with draught gauges, level indicators, instrument panels and soot blowers by Holima.
Electricity for power and lighting are supplied by two Werkspoor-B.T.H. turbine-driven alternators, each supplying 700 kW AC,
at 440 volts, 60 cycles. All the alternators are suitable for operation in parallel and safeguarded by an electronically operating
synchronizer. Electricity for power is supplied at 440 volts, 60 cycles, while for lighting use is made of 110 volts, 60 cycles.
All the lighting equipment and the consumers essential to navigation are connected to the emergency switchboard and can be
automatically switched over to the emergency generator. The latter has a capacity of 160 kW and is driven by a diesel engine
which starts up automatically. It is possible to feed the main switch board from the emergency switchboard.
The starters for the bigger motors are placed together on a central starter panel built into the main switchboard. The starter
units can be exchanged and can be taken out. All motors connected to the starter panel can be switched to a 3-phase reduced
 tension system which has been chosen so that the motors are warmed up but will not start. Motors which are not connected
to the starter panel and which are therefore not warmed when not in operation, are of the wholly enclosed type.
Lighting of the engine room and the living accommodation is mainly by means of fluorescent lamps. Switching arrangements
are such that they will burn at reduced tension which occurs when the ship's mains is connected to a shore system with tensions
below 440 volts. Deck lighting is by means of high-pressure mercury lamps. Most of the SKA motors, such as those for driving
the boiler fans, main circulation pump, etc. were supplied by Heemaf. Eleven Laurence Scott A. C. motors with an aggregate
power of 319.5 b.h.p. for various duties including vital ones are fitted, as well as four starters with an aggregate power of 52 b.h.p.
Werkspoor, in addition to the equipment described above, supplied the auxiliary condenser, evaporators and Butterworth
 installation. The centrifugal pumps are all of Stork manufacture, the Butterworth and ballast pump being driven by Werkspoor
OT steam turbines. The following Stork pumps are fitted:

One horizontal centrifugal fire pump of 90 tons/b against an 88-meter head.
One horizontal fire- and Butterworth pump with a capacity of 1,000.-2,000 U.S. gals. per minute against a maximum head of 141 m.
One vertical low-pressure centrifugal main circulation pump with a capacity of 3,960 cu.m./h against a head of 141 m.
One vertical low-pressure auxiliary circulation pump with a capacity of 1160 cu.m./h against a 76-m head.
One horizontal centrifugal pump as a cargo tank ballast pump with a capacity of 910 cu.m./h against a 92-m head.
Three vertical condensate centrifugal pumps with a capacity of 63.5 tons an hour against a 79-m. head
Two horizontal centrifugal sanitary and emergency fire pumps, each with a capacity of 58 cu.m. h. against a head of 56 m.
Three horizontal main feed pumps for water of 142 deg. C. and having a capacity of 102 tons/h.
One vertical circulation pump for the lubricating oil cooler with a capacity of 226 tons an hour against a head of 14 m.
Two horizontal centrifugal pumps for the handling of condensate with a maximum temperature of 100 deg. C and each having a
capacity of 26 tons an boor against a head of 79 m.
One vertical centrifugal pump for fresh water of 140 deg. F. with a capacity of 4.54 cu.m./h against a head of 28 m.
Four vertical centrifugal pumps for washing and drinking water, each with a capacity of 45 litres per minute against a head of 61 m.
In addition to these pumps there are two Houttuin vertical lubricating pumps each with a capacity of 100 cu.m./h.
Three Stork forced draught fans have been applied. They have the following static pressures:

13.4     cu.in./h at 561 mm. of water
 9.7     cu.m./h at 230 mm. of water
19.4     crt.in./h at 230 mm. of water

Bloksma coolers are fitted for each of the auxiliary turbines. They include:
One lubricating oil cooler type 172, L = 800, having a cooling surface of 2.2 sq.m.
Three lubricating oil coolers, type 172 L = 1000, having a cooling surface of 2.76 sq.m.
Four oil coolers, type 172, L = 1500, each having a cooling surface of 4.14 sq.m.
For engine room and boiler room ventilation eight Woods 48 in. Marine type aerofoil fans with two-speed motors are installed.
Each fan supplies at high speed 42,500 cu.m. of air an hour. The fan casings are of the Maxcess type for servicing without
disturbing the installation. A unique feature is that a two-stage axial flow fan is installed operating as a funnel annulus fan.
The motors of this fan are specially insulated with class “H” material, as they are placed directly in the hot air stream. This
contra rotating aerofoil fan is also fitted with a “Maces” type casing.

EQUIPMENT ON BOARD THE “ESSO ROTTERDAM”

(Partial List)

Aanker, Het, Schelluinen: Windows, sidelights.
Ben, A. v. d., IJsselmonde: Pinework.
Bloksma Radiateurenfabriek N.V., Amsterdam: Coolers.
Boer & Co., de, Amsterdam: Foam fire-fighting equipment.
Bronswerk N.V., Amsterdam: Air conditioning, mech. ventilation.
Compositieverven, Fabr. van, Delft: “Artonex resistent” paint.
Dam, Wed. A. van, Bolnes: Steel cabin doors and ventilator cowls.
Dahhnan, Rotterdam: Ozon installation
Davit Company, Utrecht: Davits and accessories
Dijk van, Rotterdam: Accommodation ladders.
Econosto N.V., Rotterdam: Valves and fittings
Franse, T., Amsterdam: Coventry Victor diesel engines.
Goodwill Schuimrubber N.V., Rotterdam: Foam rubber.
Grootenhuis, Win. C., Rotterdam: Brown Bros. steering engine.
Handelscompagnie N.V., Rotterdam: Rigging,
Heemaf N.V., Hengelo: SKA 3-phase motors.
Hertel & Co., Rotterdam: Insulation.
Hobart N.V., Rotterdain: Foodinixer, potato peeler.
Ilolima, Amsterdam: Combustion control, feedwater control, Instruments.
Hoop N.V., A. de, Rotterdam: Electrical installation.
Houttuin's Machinefabriek, Utrecht: Lubricating oil pumps.
Huisman, Rotterdam: Derricks.
Hygienische Vloeren, Amsterdam: Flooring.
Imea, Hattum: Kitchen range, bread baking oven. hot press, clarifiers, coffee making machine, and boilers.
Inham, The Hague: Walter Kidde fire-fighting equipment,
Int. Navigatie Apparaten, Rotterdam: Decca True Motion 909 radar,
janszen, Jr. J., The Hague: Laurence Scott motors.
Keehnen, Rotterdam: Furnishings.
Kolff & Co., Rotterdam: Refrigerating equipment.
Kon. Grofsmederij, Leiden: Cables and anchors.
Koopman & Co., Amsterdam: Sal log, De Laval separators.
Kwant, Sneek: Oil filters.
Minimax N.V., Naarden: Foam fire-extinguishers
Naut. Techn. Handel Mij. U. J. Feteris, The Hague: Sperry equipment
Noord, Jan C. van, Amsterdam: Bolaco, pressure releif valves.
Observator N.V., Rotterdam: Magnetic compasses, nautical instruments
Pot ,Willem, Rotterdam: Clarke, Chapman windlass.
Profiltra N.V., Amsterdam: Marinite sheets.
Radio Holland N.V., Amsterdam: Wireless communications equipment, echo sounder.
Rollo N.V., The Hague: Automatic mooring winches, towing chocks.
Saval, Breda: Fire-fighting equipment.
Schouten, Capelle a. d. IJssel: Paintwork.
Stork & Co. Gebr., Hengelo: Pumps, ventilators
Trost en Co., L., Rotterdam: Vynide.
Ubel NV., Amsterdam: Forged steel fittings.
Yanandel N.V., Techn. Handelsonderneming, Rotterdam: Woods aerofoil fans.
Verhoef, Aalsmeer: Lifeboats.
Vredestein N.V. Loosduinen: Flooring.
Werkspoor N.V., Amsterdam: Main propelling machinery, and other machinery equipment.
Winel, Zaandam: Pressure relief valves.