What is an Oil Tanker?
Oil tankers are large ocean vessels that transport oil. More specifically, there are two types of modern tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Both of these tankers can be dangerous vessels on which to work.
- Crude tankers haul oil from the location where it is extracted from the earth to a refinery where it will be processed.
- Product tankers transport refined fuels from a refinery to markets across the globe where it will be sold to customers.
Tankers carrying crude oil are the larger of these two. The largest crude ships, known as ultra large crude carriers (ILCCs), can carry more than 550,000 tons of crude oil, making them the largest ships at sea. This much cargo can be worth tens of millions of dollars. The weight of the cargo is called deadweight tonnage, or DWT.