The vessel was built by Chinese shipyards and has the capacity to transport 2 million barrels of oil per trip
China presented its newest VLCC (large oil tanker) model on Thursday (March 26, 2026). Commonly called a supertanker, the Chinese vessel has the capacity to transport 2 million barrels of oil per trip. It was built and developed on Chinese soil and delivered 3 months in advance, according to Chinese newspapers.
The ship named Empire Hope (Hope of the Empire, in Portuguese) is positioned in Dalian, in the province of Liaoning, in the northeast of the country. The region is known for housing shipyards and its naval industrial capacity. The vessel measures 333 meters long and 60 meters wide.
The deck is over 18,000 m² and 30 meters deep. The height of the vessel – from the bottom of the hull to the bridge – is equivalent to a 20-story building. Its total covering area exceeds 540 thousand m², equivalent to the size of 76 football fields.
In addition to its dimensions, the Empire Hope It is considered state-of-the-art Chinese supertankers due to its technology. It is equipped with a 6-cylinder engine, high-efficiency propellers and an exhaust gas desulfurization system capable of saving around US$5 million in fuel per year.
O Empire Hope enters the list of largest VLCCs in the world, but is still behind the Japanese Eagle Traderbuilt in 2018: while the Chinese ship has a cargo capacity of 307 thousand DWT (tons deadweight – a measure that represents the sum of all the weight that the ship can carry, not counting its own weight), the Japanese vessel has 312 thousand DWT.
DEPENDENCE ON OIL
In recent years, China has been characterized as one of the countries that invests the most in energy transition and has achieved significant results in the diversification of its energy sources.
In , the Chinese government set the goal of doubling nuclear and wind energy production capacity offshore.
Even with its focus on decarbonization, China is not slowing down its investments to become more efficient in the oil sector. The country is the largest oil importer in the world and understands that the commodity will still be part of its energy matrix for many decades.
