THE PLANNED launch of Unicorn's latest newbuilding, m.t. Hambisa, has had to be delayed owing to widespread flooding in Poland.
The new vessel, which has cost Unicorn Lines US$36 million, will go on charter to Shell and BP Southern Africa and will be employed in local and Indian Ocean waters.
Hambisa was due to be launched from the Szczecin shipyard on July 26 by Mary Drake, wife of Shell SA's chairman. A number of Unicorn and Grincor Shipping Services dignitaries have either already left for Poland to attend the launch or were about to leave when news of Poland's worst ever floods reached South Africa.
The floods have caused the evacuation of about 200 towns and villages in southern Poland with waters reaching up to three storeys in some places. The Szczecin shipyard is built on a river in the north. Flood waters are expected to reach it at about the same time as the planned launch.
The Hambisa, which in Zulu and Xhosa means Ôto transport' or Ôto deliver', is the fourth 45 000 dwt chemical products tanker to be built for Unicorn at this shipyard. Two others, the Engen Rainbow and the Engen Simunye, were designed to Engen's specifications and launched last year, while a third vessel was designed and built for Shell Australia's coastal trade.
By Terry Hutson
