The Batillus-class supertankers were a class of supertanker ships built in France in the late 1970s, with four ships of this class built between 1976 and 1979. Three of the ships were scrapped after less than ten years of oil transport service each, with the fourth one scrapped in 2003.
All four tankers were built in the Bassin C dock of the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyards at Saint Nazaire, France.
While being the largest ships ever built by gross tonnage until, the four Batillus-class ships were the second largest ever constructed when measuring deadweight tonnage or length overall, behind only the supertanker (renamed five times, including to Knock Nevis), which existed from 1979 to 2010.[5]
While there were minor differences between the four Batillus-class ships, they all approached a gross tonnage (GT) of 275,000 and tonnage, and had a length overall of over 414m (1,358feet) (longer than all but a few of the tallest skyscrapers in the world).
The Batillus class had a depth of nearly 36m (118feet) from the main deck and a full load draft of 28.5m (93.5feet), the greatest of any vessel, and slightly greater than the two Globtik Tokyo-class Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCCs).
Unlike Seawise Giant and most other ULCCs, the Batillus-class vessels had twin propellers, twin boilers of full size and power, and twin rudders. As a result, in the event of an engine or other failure, they could continue operation with the remaining propeller and boiler.