Prairial, which was the fourth and final vessel of Batillus-class supertankers (the other three were Batillus, Bellamya and Pierre Guillaumat).

As other ships of Batillus class, she was laid up, arriving at Vestnes, Norway on April 5, 1983, but was sold and recommissioned in 1985.

Propulsion was provided by two propellers each driven by two Stal-Laval steam turbines developing a total power of 65,000 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.