Full colour version of the BP magazine

Top tankers
British Emperor
1916-1941
The British Emperor
(above) was the first
vessel to carry the
‘British’ name, a tradition
that continues today.
Her first voyage carried
fuel oil from Abadan in
Persia (now Iran) back to
the UK. On 7th May
1941, during a voyage
from Durban, South
Africa to Abadan, she
was captured and sunk
by the German raider
Pinguin at a position 480
km (300 miles) south,
southeast of Socotra, off
the coast of Yemen.
BP Shipping has a long, illustrious history spanning much
of the 20th century. During that time, it witnessed many
industry and company ‘firsts’.
1 3 5
British Valour
1927-1953
In 1942, the British
Valour became the first
of the company’s tankers
to carry out the
important task of
regularly refuelling HM
Escorts vessels while at
sea, on the UK to
Freetown, South Africa
route. In the same year,
BP suffered its worst
shipping losses of the
Second World War.
British Glory
1927-1954
First built in 1927, the
British Glory became the
first company vessel to
be fitted with a fore and
aft bridge in 1943 so that
it could carry out
refuelling duties while
still at sea. It also
suffered torpedo damage
in 1940 during the
Second World War.
British Explorer
1969-1981
The British Explorer was
the company’s first
215,000 dead weight
tonnage (dwt) very large
crude carrier (VLCC).
During the course of the
1970s, VLCCs of up to
270,000dwt began to
join the fleet. As the
vessel size grew,
numbers of tankers
decreased.
Factfile
British Trader
2002-
The British Trader was
one of the first of the
new ‘Trader’ class
double-hulled vessels
carrying liquefied
natural gas (LNG). These
vessels were the first to
be ordered for general
trading instead of on a
contract basis. In other
words, they were free to
trade wherever the
market took them,
instead of following a set
‘bus’ route.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 57