Concordia Damen wins 40-vessel order for inland tanker barges

Concordia Damen has won an order for 40 eco-friendly dual-fuel tanker barges in a series with institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

The barges will be chartered by Shell and operated by the VT Group/Marlow. Frachtcontor Capital Partners was the broker for the deal.

The 110- by 11.5-metre vessels will have LNG propulsion and extreme shallow draught capabilities – 2,800 tonnes at a draught of 3.25 metres – in order to maximise cargo carrying capacity on Dutch, Belgian, and German canal and river networks. Each barge will have eight onboard cargo tanks with total capacity for 3,040 cubic metres.

Concordia Damen will begin construction of the tankers in December this year. The delivery of the first vessel will be in November 2021, and succeeding vessels will be delivered at a rate of one per month until December 2024.

The barges will be used primarily to transport mineral oils.