The Batillus class was a series of four identical ULCC tankers. The ships were built between 1976 and 1979 by the French shipbuilding company Chantiers de l'Atlantique and were the largest ships in the world at the time.
The economic background for the construction of the largest tankers was the closure of the Suez Canal , which lasted from 1967 to 1975 . During these years shipping was forced to make a detour around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa on routes from the Persian Gulf to Europe or the United States. That led to unprecedented growth in size in tanker construction. After the French Tankreederei Societe Maritime Shell had calculated that investment and operating costs of two very large ships would be more advantageous than the four originally envisaged smaller tankers at the shipyard on 6 April 1971, the first two ships were Batillus class that Batillus and Bellamya ordered. In January 1975 the shipyard began cutting the first steel parts for the Batillus . The Batillus was undocked in May 1976 and on the 25th of the following month the shipyard delivered the type ship of the series to the client. The Bellamya followed about half a year later.
