VLCC is shorthand for a class of ship: the
Very Large Crude Carrier. It is a classification that was originated by
Shell Oil in the 1950s in its
AFRA (average freight rate assessment)
tanker rating system. In that system, a VLCC referred to a
petroleum tanker that
displaced between 160,000 and 319,999
DWT. The AFRA fell into disuse, but the VLCC classification also exists in a later system, the
Flexible Market Scale. In both scales, there is another rating
above VLCC, the
ULCC or
Ultra Large
Crude Carrier, displacing over 320,000
DWT. These scales are roughly equivalent to the 'MAX' scales for
container shipping (see
AFRAMAX,
PANAMAX,
SUEZMAX,
HANDYMAX).
One of the world's most (in)famous VLCCs was the Exxon Valdez, now renamed and operating in the Mediterranean Sea. The M/V Sirius Star, also a VLCC, was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia in November 2008.