The Bellamya was a supertanker, built in 1976 by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire for the French branch of Shell Oil.
The contract to build the Batillus class supertankers was signed on April 6, 1971, and the first sheet metal was cut in January 1975.
Propulsion was provided by two propellers each driven by two Stal-Laval steam turbines developing a total capacity of 64,800 Hp.
They were divided into central and lateral tanks, whose dimensions was designed to reduce considerably the risk of pollution caused by collision or grounding.
Ahead of the international standards of the time, the wing tanks had a maximum unit volume not exceeding 17,000 m3, which was reduced to 9,000 m3 in the most vulnerable parts of ship.