China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) has claimed to take delivery of the world’s first “smart VLCC”, which theoretically only needs one crew member in the control room.

Earlier this week, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corp delivered the 308,000-dwt New Journey to the Shanghai-listed company, making it the 51th VLCC in the fleet of the world’s largest VLCC owner.

“This is the world’s first vessel certified by China Classification Society as ‘one-man-bridge-operated’,” said China Merchants Group (CMG), the parent of CMES.