OREANDA-NEWS. June 23, 2011. On Thursday, June 23 JSC Latvijas kugnieciba (LSC) took delivery of its latest new building tanker Latgale from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., Ltd shipyard in Korea thus implementing the first stage of its fleet renewal programme. The new tanker is 52,000 DWT and is equipped for the safe transportation of oil and chemical products throughout the world including ice regions being designated a suitable tanker to trade in ice. The next sister vessel to be delivered under the fleet renewal will be Zemgale in July 2011.

Implementing the fleet renewal pogramme has decreased the average age of the LSC fleet from 17.5 years in 2005 to 5 years in 2011.

The new tanker is named after one of four regions in Latvia – Latgale. Naming LSC ships after Latvian regions or urban places is a continuation of a Latvian shipping tradition. Other examples of vessel names within the LSC fleet are Kuldiga, Jurkaline, Ainazi, Slacgriva and Kolka and others.

Tanker fleet renewal programme’s focus is on providing younger and economically more efficient fleet, and paying attention to the improvement of environmental protection standards by more efficient consumption of energy resources and minimizing environmental risks caused by shipping.

Currently LSC owns 19 modern tankers employing more than thousand well trained and experienced seamen from Latvia. In total, the commercial fleet of Latvian Shipping Company consists of 22 tankers, as LSC operates three tankers that belong to other ship owners. The total deadweight of the fleet is close to one million DWT.