Ten new multipurpose vessels for Rickmers-Linie

Rickmers-Linie, the Hamburg-based specialist in the global transportation of breakbulk, heavylift and project cargo, has secured for itself ten new purpose-built multipurpose vessels, which are to be added to its fleet between 2009 and 2011. All ten will be built by Chinese shipyards and are to be deployed in Rickmers-Linie's worldwide services, replacing older tonnage and securing capacity for the further development of the network.

Six 19,000 dwt ships will be built by Tongfang Shipyard. Each vessel will be equipped with two 240-tonne cranes, capable of working in tandem to lift 480 tonnes. One of the three holds, no 3, will have a hatch opening of 52.50m x 18m and the tweendecks will be adjustable, a feature first introduced on the 30,000dwt Superflex Heavy MPC vessels, which the company received from Chinese shipyards in 2002-2004.

The length of these vessels will be 148m with a beam of 23.40m and a draught (scantling) of 9.80m. They will have a service speed of 16 knots. These ships, which are designed primarily for the Europe to Middle East/India trade, are planned for delivery in January, April, June, July, October and December 2010.

Four 17,000 dwt ships will be built by Xinshun Shipyard and each will be equipped with two 150-tonne cranes, which can be combined for a maximum lifting capacity of 300 tonnes. A third crane will offer an 80-tonne lifting capacity.

The largest hatch opening on these vessels will be 38.80m x 18.6m at hold no 2, and these vessels will also equipped with adjustable tweendecks.

Slightly smaller than the Tongfang ships, they will have a length of 144m, a beam of 22.80m and a draught (scantling) of 9.85m. Like the larger vessels, they will have a service speed of 16 knots. Deliveries in this series are planned for December 2009, July 2010, November 2010 and April 2011.

Announcing the new shipbuilding programme, Jan Boje Steffens, President & CEO of Rickmers-Linie, said:

"The demand for the transportation of breakbulk, heavylift and project cargoes has been increasing in recent years and will continue to grow in the future. Therefore we are happy that we will be able to add additional purpose-built tonnage to our fleet in the next three years, thus securing availability for capacity to our growing business. Having said that, I am sure that we will continue to find opportunities to build more vessels of these types."

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Notes to editor

With more than 170 years to its name, Rickmers-Linie, based in Hamburg, Germany is one of the world's leading specialists in the global transportation of breakbulk, heavylift and project cargo by sea. The company belongs to Rickmers Group, which offers diversified activities in the fields of liner shipping, shipowning and shipmanagement, investments and real estate as well as maritime related services.

More information about Rickmers-Linie is available at www.rickmers-linie.com. Information about the manifold activities of Rickmers Group are available at www.rickmers.com.