A PETROCHEMICALS company says it has positioned itself ahead of an industry rival after hitting a milestone moment in a factory conversion.

Sabic yesterday welcomed the huge GasChem Beluga to the region.

The gas carrying vessel, understood to be the largest of its type in Europe, docked at Teesport for a naming ceremony.

The Beluga, which will soon be joined by a sister ship, will carry ethane gas from the US to Teesside for use in Sabic’s Olefins 6 plant at Wilton, near Redcar.

The factory, also known as the Cracker, takes feedstocks and cracks apart components to derive new yields, such as packaging, and has been adapted to take ethane gas as a raw material alongside propane, naphtha and butane, which officials say will make it more cost-effective and the most flexible base of its type in Europe.

To support the operation, Sabic is taking delivery of the gas from Houston in the US, with bosses revealing the Beluga can carry an extra 30 per cent of cargo compared to rival vessels, which reduces shipping costs.

However, John Bruijnooge, Sabic’s Teesside site director, also told The Northern Echo that the vessel would give the company an advantage over rival Ineos, which has already welcomed shipments of US ethane to a Scottish base.

He said: “This ship and the concept that Sabic worked out with the owner of the ship is real innovation.

“It can carry 30 per cent more than the ships that go to Ineos in Grangemouth and is another piece in the puzzle, while keeping costs lower.

“It is a key part of the supply chain.”

Operated by German shipping company Hartmann Reederei and GasChem Services, bosses say the vessel will run on clean gas, thus reducing emissions.

Speaking at the naming ceremony, where Odette Claus, wife of Sabic’s global director for supply chain liquids, Frank Claus, was named Beluga’s godmother, Captain Alfred Hartmann, founder of the Hartmann Group, said he was delighted to be working with the petrochemicals operator.

Capt Hartmann, who first visited Teesside’s waters as a child when his father was a captain, added: “Here you see what modern shipping is and we are proud to have such a good relationship with Sabic.

“Hopefully we can continue our business and build it up.”

Sabic’s plant upgrade included the conversion of the Cracker and its 17 furnaces, as well as the building of an ethane terminal at a sister North Tees site, between Port Clarence and Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool.

The Echo understands half of what the Cracker produces goes into Sabic’s polyethylene Wilton plant, which is used to make items such as packaging, while the other half is shipped to Germany, where it is used in polyethylene plants and other factories to help make goods including milk bottles and car dashboards.