SS Gouldia

History
United Kingdom
Name	SS Gouldia
Owner	Gaz de France
Port of registry	London, UK
Ordered	1972
Builder	CNIM-La Syne, France
Launched	9 February 1974
In service	1975
Out of service	1986
Homeport	London
Fate	Sold to Brunei in December 1986.
Brunei
Name	SS Belanak
Owner	Brunei Shell Tankers (1986); Brunei Liquified Natural Gas (2015);
Operator	STASCo
Port of registry	Muara, Brunei
Acquired	1986
In service	1986
Out of service	28 April 2018
Homeport	Brunei
Identification	IMO number: 7347768; MMSI number: 508040000; Callsign: V8XE;
Fate	Scrapped in 2018
General characteristics
Class and type	B-class oil tankers (Brunei); G-class oil tankers (France);
Displacement	51,579 tons
Length	260 m (853 ft 0 in)
Beam	35 m (114 ft 10 in)
Boats & landing ; craft carried	2 x lifeboats

SS Belanak was the fifth ship of the seven B-class oil tankers. She was previously known as Gouldia.^[1] She is named after belanak, a species of fish found in Brunei and Malaysia.

Development

B-class oil tankers were built by CNIM-La Syne, France in 1972 to 1975. They served Gaz de France for around 14 years, the B-class vessels were acquired and delivered to BST in December 1986. Previously referred to as the G-class vessels chartered under Shell Tankers United Kingdom (STUK). They continued to provide reliable service to the company and its client especially BLNG. Four out of the seven BST vessels carry a fully Bruneian crew with the exception of senior management; a feat yet to be achieved but not impossible.^[2]

All B-class vessels have an average cargo capacity of 75,000 m³ (470,000 bbl) and were certified with the 'Green Passport' for the safe carriage of all hazardous materials on board. All B-class oil tankers were taken out of service in 2011.^[3] They are all steam powered.^[4]

Construction and career

SS Gadinia was ordered in 1972 and completed in 1975.^[5] The vessel entered service in 1975 and was taken out of service to be sold in 1986. In 1986, Brunei Shell acquired Gouldia and renamed her Belanak. Throughout her career she routinely traveled between Brunei and Japan carrying oil.

On 28 April 2018, Belanak was taken out of service to be scrapped in Shanghai, China after 45 years of service.^[6] Her and her sister SS Bebatik were the last two in service.^[7]