New sulfur carrier ship built

Shin Kurushima Dockyard Co. Ltd. has completed the Hestiana, a molten sulfur carrier of 3,599DWT, for Fukurokuju Maritima S. A. reported MarNews. The vessel has a special construction for the specific purpose of molten sulfur transport. Molten sulfur, which is used as a material to produce fertilizers, is now transported from Japan or Korea to China.
The temperature of the molten sulfur should be maintained at 135 - 145oC. If the temperature decreases below 120 oC or increases over 154 oC, the molten sulfur rapidly becomes highly viscous. Thus thermal control is important for transport of the material. An independent tank system is employed for keeping the cargo at high temperature. Cargo ship tanks are made of steel with heat insulation of glass wool, which covers the tank. Inside the tank, heating coils are installed to pass steam and maintain the required temperature. Sulfur has low flammable danger or toxicity to humans. However, molten sulfur contains impurities of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide that are highly toxic. Hydrogen sulfide is very flammable and may cause an explosion.
Accumulation of hydrogen sulfide inside the cargo tank must be avoided. Therefore, vapor containing hydrogen sulfide from the cargo is forcibly ventilated from the air phase of the cargo inside the cargo tank with fans which send fresh air inside. The fresh air is previously heated through the heaters to not cool the cargo. If the vent post line is blocked by the cargo, it may cause a hazard. So the vent line and vent valves are provided with heat tracers to prevent adhesion of the cargo to the vent. The cargo pumps used for cargo handling are the deep well and electric motor driven type.
The ship is rofitable and flexible in operations for the maritime transport companies. The vessel has overall length of 95.02 meters and length between perpendiculars of 89.95 meters. The beam of the ship is 14 meters and the depth is 7.60 meters. The ship has draft of 5.61 meters, while fully loaded. The deadweight of the vessel is 3,599 metric tons and the gross tonnage is 2,849 gross tons.