Deliveries include two car carriers and a hybrid multi-purpose vessel. A South Korean owner has placed orders for new bulk carriers. Lastly, a UK operator's newest shortsea-capable has been floated out in the Netherlands.
ESL Shipping’s Swedish subsidiary AtoB@C Shipping has taken delivery of a new cargo vessel built by Indian shipyard Chowgule and Company.
The Lloyd’s Register-classed Astramar is the 10th unit in a 12-strong series of 5,350DWT plug-in hybrid vessels designed to carry a wide range of bulk and breakbulk products including steel, forest products, fertiliser, and project cargo.
Electramar and Stellamar, the first two vessels in the series, were delivered to AtoB@C Shipping in 2024.
Royal T Shipyards in the Netherlands has launched the first of two vessels ordered by UK-based shortsea specialist Carisbrooke Shipping.
Greta C and her yet unnamed sister will be the latest examples in an existing series of multi-purpose dry cargo vessels built by Royal T Shipyards. The first vessels in the same series are already in operation with Dutch shipping company the Vertom Group.
Like their sisters in Dutch service, Carisbrooke Shipping's new multi-purpose vessels will each have a deadweight of over 7,000, a length of 118.6 metres, a beam of 14.3 metres, and two full-box cargo holds with a total capacity of more than 9,300 cubic metres.
South Korea's Pan Ocean has announced an investment of KRW228 billion ($154 million) to build two new Newcastlemax vessels. In a stock exchange filing, the company stated it aims to, "enhance its competitiveness in the dry bulk cargo transportation business," through this investment.
The shipbuilding contract is scheduled to conclude by March 27, 2031, upon the delivery of the vessels. The shipbuilder was not disclosed in the announcement.
Pan Ocean remarked that it chose to exercise an option to order two additional ships, a provision included in a previous investment decision disclosed on February 11.
Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has taken delivery of a new pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) built locally by Tadotsu Shipyard, a subsidiary of the Imabari Shipbuilding Group.
The NK-classed, Liberian-flagged Lazulite Ace is notable for its LNG dual-fuel propulsion system, which was selected by MOL for its ability to generate significantly reduced emissions of CO2 (25 to 30 per cent), NOx (85 per cent), and SOx (98 per cent) compared to engines powered by conventional fuel oil.
The PCTC belongs to a new series of ships with environment-friendly features. These ships are to be delivered by Imabari Shipbuilding and other local yards as part of MOL’s fleet upgrade program, the objective of which is to introduce around 90 locally-built vessels powered by either LNG or methanol by the end of the current decade.
Italian shipping company the Grimaldi Group recently took delivery of a new pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation subsidiary Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS).
Grande Seoul belongs to the same series as Grande Tianjin and Grande Auckland, which were handed over by SWS to Grimaldi in 2025, and Grande Manila, which followed in January of this year.
Like her sisters, Grande Seoul has a length of 200 metres, a beam of 38 metres, a gross tonnage of 77,500, and a total capacity of 9,241 CEUs.
