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Avila - (1938-1947)
No photograph available, Any one ??
The first specialized LPG vessels to trade were in fact dry cargo ships converted and refitted with cylindrical pressure tanks by the Bethlehem
Steelyard in Beaumont, Texas. The first of these, completed in 1947for Warren Petroleum, was the 6,050 cubic meter Natalie O. Warren
(with 68 vertically installed tanks in five holds) and the next, deliveredtwo years later for Lorentzen, was the 3,000 cubic meter Ultragaz (with
29 vertical and two horizontal tanks). The steel tanks had to bedesigned of such thickness so as to withstand working pressures up to
17 kg. per square centimetre.
At the same time, Esso began converting T2 ships for combined LPG and petroleum products carriage. Their initial venture in this field, the
Esso Sao Paulo, included 8 vertical pressure tanks installed in the vessel’s centre tanks. The Esso El Salvador and Esso Brazil followed with
similar configurations.
The combined transport of LPG and petroleumproducts proved to be somewhat cumbersome for Esso to manage in their trade to Brazil and
they sold out their business in 1954.
Additional Info by Starke & Schell Registers :
AVILA-1938 VE 2 Triple (aft) (11)
1,635 GRT for Cia. de Petroleo Lago, Maracaibo 261.2 x 45.7
Tanker built by Smith's Dock Co., Ltd., So. Bank, Middlesbrough (8) #1038
1947 - ESSO EL SALVADOR Esso Standard Oil (Central America), Soc. Anon., Panama, PA
1947 - lengthened 1,691 grt, 270.3' - cargo tank section replaced
1952 - Esso Standard Oil S.A., Panama - s/o
Sold Aug 1957 to J. H. Coppedge, Jacksonville, and dismantled or scrapped.