A new multi-purpose ship has been handed over to a Singapore-based owner while another recently departed on her delivery voyage to Europe. Construction continues on a shortsea vessel for a Dutch operator. Orders have meanwhile been placed for a Ro-Ro vessel to be operated in Australia and ice class ships for a Danish owner.
Danish shipping company Norden has begun expanding into the ice-class segment through a long-term contract of affreightment (COA) with Swedish mining company LKAB and the order of two new vessels.
The COA will have a duration of up to 10 years and will cover the transport of bentonite from Greece to northern Sweden.
To support the contract, Norden has ordered two ice-class multipurpose vessels from the Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group in China. Deliveries are scheduled for 2028.
Singapore-based AAL Shipping recently took delivery of a new heavy lift vessel from China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) subsidiary Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding.
AAL Newcastle is the latest example in a series that includes the 2024-built AAL Hamburg and AAL Limassol.
Like her sisters, the 32,000DWT, dual-fuel multi-purpose vessel AAL Newcastle was designed by CSSC subsidiary Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute in collaboration with AAL and Columbia Shipmanagement in compliance with DNV class rules.
Serco has been selected for the design and build of a new vessel that would support the critical freight needs of Lord Howe Island in New South Wales, Australia, for the next 40 years.
Serco said the project, which forms part of the NSW Government’s Lord Howe Island Critical Infrastructure Program, will deliver a fit-for-purpose vessel designed to meet stringent environmental and biosecurity standards, helping provide critical protection for the native plant and animal species present.
The new vessel will feature roll-on/roll-off and lift-on/lift-off capability, with capacity for 35 ISO containers plus bulk items.
Menawethan, the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group’s (ISSG) new purpose-built freight vessel, has departed Vietnam and begun her delivery voyage to the UK.
ISSG expects the journey to Penzance is to take around 72 days, weather permitting. The route will take Menawethan via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, with four bunker stops en route.
The voyage will include stops in Port Louis, Mauritius; Walvis Bay, Namibia; and Tenerife before a final call at Piriou’s shipyard in Concarneau, France, and continuing on to Penzance.
Indian shipbuilder Chowgule and Company has launched a new 6,000DWT shortsea cargo vessel ordered by Netherlands-based Vertom.
Skretting Gro belongs to a series of 12 ships that are smaller variants of another 7,000DWT multi-purpose cargo carrier series being built for Vertom by Dutch shipbuilder Thecla Bodewes (now Royal T Shipyards).
Vertom Rita, the first ship in the 6,000DWT series, was delivered by Chowgule and Company in 2024.
