A supertanker is a tanker ship built to transport very large quantities of liquids, especially crude oil. The terms VLCC (Very-Large Crude Carrier) and ULCC (Ultra-Large Crude Carrier) are also sometimes used. A tanker is usually a vehicle carrying large amounts of liquid fuel. ... A ship is a large, usually decked watercraft. ... Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 Petroleum (from Latin petrus – rock and oleum – oil), mineral oil, or crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish flammable liquid, which exists in the upper strata of some areas of the Earths...

Commercial crude oil supertanker AbQaiq.

Ships above 250,000 metric tons are generally considered supertankers. They are the largest ships in the world, larger even than aircraft carriers. When they were first introduced their size and draft prevented them from docking at many existing docks, requiring supertankers to discharge their cargo into smaller tankers offshore. Some ports have developed special deep-water off-loading facilities connected to the land by pipelines. Download high resolution version (1200x436, 79 KB)Caption: 030628-N-6077T-003 Central Command Area of Responsibility (Jun. ... Download high resolution version (1200x436, 79 KB)Caption: 030628-N-6077T-003 Central Command Area of Responsibility (Jun. ... A tonne (also called metric ton) is a non-SI unit of mass, accepted for use with SI, defined as: 1 tonne = 103 kg (= 106 g). ... An aircraft carrier is a warship whose main role is to deploy and recover aircraft. ... In nautical parlance, draft is the depth below waters surface of the lowest part of of a ship or boat. ... A tanker is usually a vehicle carrying large amounts of liquid fuel. ...

Due to their size and mass, supertankers have very poor manoeuvrability; the stopping distance of a supertanker is typically measured in miles. When operating close to the shoreline they are vulnerable to running aground, whether due to mechanical failure, human error or bad weather. When this happens oil spills are a significant risk. A laden supertanker can carry millions of gallons of oil, which can pollute many miles of coastline. In "single-hulled" tankers, the hull is also the wall of the oil tanks, and any breach will result in an oil spill. Newer tankers are "double-hulled", with an air space between the hull and the storage tanks, to reduce the risk of a spill in the event that the hull is breached. Volunteers cleaning up the aftermath of the Prestige oil spill An oil spill is the release of oil (generally, petroleum) into the natural environment, usually the ocean. ... Oil is a generic term for organic liquids that are not miscible with water. ...

Following the Exxon Valdez incident, the United States has mandated in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA-90) that all supertankers entering United States waters be double-hulled by 2015. The European Union has similar legislation requiring all tankers entering their waters to be double-hulled by 2010. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was the most devastating domestic oil spill in the United States. ... A double-hulled tanker is a large tanker ship used for transporting liquids (usually petroleum). ...