The shell tanker Helicina was the first motor ship to be operated with heavy oil of particularly high viscosity.
history
The oil tanker , completed in 1946 at the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyard under construction number 1711, was considered the world's first motor ship to be operated with heavy oil of particularly high viscosity. Its owner was the London tanker shipping company Shell. As early as 1938 attempts were made under the direction of John Lamb, the head of the technical inspection of Royal Dutch Shell , to operate diesel engines with heavy heating oil. This was previously only used to fire boilers.
After the end of the Second World War , the motor tanker Helicina was selected , parallel to the successful operation of the tanker Auricula , with heavier heating oil and for trial operation with the even more viscous heavy oil of particularly high viscosity. For this purpose, it was equipped with an adapted injection system, oil separators , heated bunker tanks and pipelines, among other things . After years of operation with the Shell shipping company without significant disruptions, the ship finally reached Blyth in 1962 , where it was canceled.
