What is an Oil Tanker?
An Oil Tanker is a specialized merchant vessel designed to carry large quantities of liquid petroleum in bulk. The tanker fleet is divided into crude oil tankers (carrying unrefined crude oil from production fields to refineries) and product tankers (carrying refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and naphtha).
Tanker Size Categories
- VLCC — Very Large Crude Carrier, 200,000–320,000 DWT
- ULCC — Ultra Large Crude Carrier, 320,000+ DWT
- Suezmax — max size through Suez Canal, ~160,000 DWT
- Aframax — 80,000–120,000 DWT
- MR (Medium Range) — 25,000–55,000 DWT product tankers
Tankers in UAE
The UAE is one of the world's largest oil exporters. ADNOC Logistics & Services (formerly ADNATCO) operates a significant tanker fleet out of Abu Dhabi, and Fujairah is a major bunkering and tanker operations hub.
