ULCC (Ultra Large Crude Carrier)

A ULCC, Ultra Large Crude Carrier, is the largest tanker class, above 320,000 dwt, with the biggest ever built reaching around 550,000 dwt. The Seawise Giant, later Happy Giant, Jahre Viking, Knock Nevis, and finally Mont, was a ULCC of 564,763 dwt and 458 meters length overall, the longest ship ever built; she ended as a floating storage unit and was scrapped in 2010. ULCCs draw too much water for nearly every port and most straits, so they load and discharge offshore. Few are in service today: VLCCs proved more flexible, and the ULCC fleet shrank as long-haul economics shifted.