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China Merchants News

03 Mar 2024

Esgian Week 9 Report: Dolphin, Diamond and Seadrill Updates

© AndSus / Adobe Stock

Esgian reports rig-related updates from Dolphin Drilling, Diamond Offshore, and Seadrill in its Week 9 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report Outline:ContractsDespite Tullow Oil’s recent announcement that it would take a break from drilling offshore Ghana, Noble Corp. has stated that there has been no contract termination announcement and that its 12,000-ft drillship Noble Venturer is currently still contracted to Tullow into March 2025.Masirah Oil Ltd has signed a rig contract with…

28 Feb 2024

First of 10 Newbuilds Delivered for FureBear JV

Fure Vanguard (Photo: Furetank)

The first vessel in a series of 10 newbuilds has been delivered to FureBear, a 50/50 joint venture between Sweden's Furetank and Canada's Algoma Central Corporation.Fure Vanguard is a dual-fuel ice class 1A 17,999 DWT product tanker built by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Yangzhou, China.The FureBear JV was formed in 2022 with an initial order for four ships. Later that year, the partners placed an order for four additional vessels, and in 2023 they ordered two more ships.

12 Feb 2024

BAR Tech Signs European Supplier for Wind Propulsion Systems

(Credit: BAR Technologies)

BAR Technologies, a developer of wind propulsion systems, has entered into partnership with floating offshore wind platforms pioneer Nervion Naval Offshore to manage and oversee the production of BAR Technologies’ wing sail design WindWings in Europe.The agreement with Nervion, a company owned by Amper Group and with factories in Ferrol and As Somozas in Galicia, Spain, is the first manufacturing partnership for BAR Technologies outside of China.It is expected to provide European customers…

09 Feb 2024

Furetank Orders Two More Vessels

(Photo: Furetank)

Furetank adds another two Vinga vessels to the order line. Upon delivery, Furetank’s fleet will consist entirely of environmentally proven, top standard vessels with an average age of two years, the company said."We did our homework. This development towards sustainability has been an amazing journey," said Furetank CEO Lars Höglund.The vessels are number 20 and 21 in the Vinga series of intermediate size product tankers and will be fully owned by Furetank Rederi AB. They will replace older tonnage.The Vinga series has been rapidly expanded in the last few years…

31 Jan 2024

Deltamarin Inks Design Deal for Stena RoRo’s 13th E-Flexer RoPax

Rendering by Peter Mild, courtesy Deltamarin

Finland-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm Deltamarin informs it has signed a design contract with China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Weihai) for the complete basic and detail design of a new RoPax vessel.The new RoPax is the 13th vessel in the Stena RoRo’s E-Flexer series and is the first to be delivered to the Mediterranean region. Corsica Linea will charter the vessel for operation on Marseille – Corsica route from Stena RoRo, with a purchase option. Delivery…

23 Jan 2024

SunStone Lines Up Multi-year Charters for Two Expedition Cruise Ships

(Photo: SunStone Maritime Group)

SunStone Maritime Group announced it has secured multi-year charters for two of its expedition cruise ships.The deals are for SunStone's Infinity Class vessels Ocean Explorer and the Ocean Odyssey, both built by China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) and delivered in 2021 and 2022 respectively.Under its new charter agreement, Ocean Explorer will return to polar cruising in October 2024 for SunStone's long-term client Quark Expeditions. The vessel, which ran aground in a remote part of Greenland last year…

15 Dec 2023

Steel Cut on Seventh SunStone Infinity Cruise Ship

Image courtesy Sunstone

The steel cutting ceremony for the seventh and final vessel in the Infinity series of expedition cruise ships took place at the Haimen shipyard of China Merchants Heavy Industries (CMHI).The PC6 expedition cruise ship, yet to be named, will embark on a long-term charter upon its delivery, the ship is technically identical to the rest of the Infinity vessels.The Infinity-class newbuilds, featuring up to 95 passenger cabins, each equipped with bathrooms and most with balconies, promise an immersive and comfortable experience for travellers.

13 Dec 2023

Second Hybrid Superstar RoPax Delivered to Finnlines

(Photo: Finnlines)

Finnlines announced it has taken delivery of Finncanopus, its second of two Superstar-series freight-passenger (ro-pax) vessels from shipbuilder China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Weihai.The newbuild is slated to enter service on Finnlines’ line between Finland and Sweden (Naantali–Långnäs–Kapellskär) in February 2024. The homeward voyage is expected to take 6–7 weeks as Finncanopus will be nearly fully loaded with freight and will call several ports before entering the Baltic Sea.Finncanopus is the final vessel of Finnlines EUR 500-million Green Newbuilding Program…

13 Dec 2023

CSOV IWS Skywalker Delivered

(Image: IWS)

Integrated Wind Solutions (IWS) announced its IWS Fleet subsidiary has taken delivery of the new commissioning service operations vessel (CSOV) IWS Skywalker from shipbuilder China Merchants Industry Holdings Co., Ltd. (CMI).After transit to Europe, the vessel will commence the first out of three charter contracts at the world's largest offshore wind farm—Dogger Bank, in the U.S.—in the first quarter of 2024.The purpose-built IWS Skywalker is the first of a series of six identical sister vessels, with the remaining five vessels scheduled for delivery in 2024 and 2025.

06 Dec 2023

AiP for World’s Largest Car Carrier

AiP presentation at China Merchants' booth at Marintec China in Shanghai. Image courtesy DNV

DNV awarded an Approval in Principle (AiP) certificate to China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Nanjing) Co., Ltd. for its 11,000-CEU capacity pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) design.Recognized as the world's largest PCTC, the 234m long and 40m wide ship will have 14 decks allowing 11,000 car equivalent units (CEUs) to be stored simultaneously, which not only increases efficiency but also reduces the transport cost per vehicle.By implementing a combination of decarbonization measures…

04 Dec 2023

Kongsberg to Design and Equip Sirius Rederi's New Chemical Tanker Pair

Kongsberg Maritime on Monday announced it has won a contract to supply design, engineering, and equipment for two MGO/biofuel and methanol-ready chemical tankers for Swedish tanker operator Sirius Rederi AB. The low emission 15,000dwt tanker vessels will feature a range of Kongsberg Maritime equipment and can operate on battery-powered hybrid propulsion. Options for further vessels are included.This latest contract builds on a current nine-ship program with fellow Swedish owner Terntank, with a similar design and equipment package.

01 Dec 2023

Gensets: New Fuels but Perennial Goals

MAN Energy Solutions introduced its auxiliary MAN 35/44DF CD engine in June 2023. mage courtesy of MAN Energy Solutions.

Fuel flexibility may be a key driver for recent developments in gensets, but the perennial goals of lowering CapEx and OpEx remain.Fuel flexibility is one of the pillars of decarbonization that is being embraced by genset OEMs. Fuel efficiency, a second pillar, goes hand in hand with that because new fuels will be more expensive, but these concerns come in addition to the on-going drive to reduce CapEx and OpEx for shipowners.MAN Energy Solutions introduced its auxiliary MAN 35/44DF CD engine in June 2023. It is designed to be future-proof and will be ready for methanol operation by 2026.

23 Nov 2023

Angad Banga Elected Chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association

Angad Banga courtesy of HKSOA

Angad Banga of The Caravel Group was elected Chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association at the organization’s annual meeting held on November 22, 2023.Banga succeeds Wellington Koo, of Valles Steamship, who stepped down after completing his two-year term as Chairman.Richard Hext of Swire Shipping was elected Deputy Chairman, succeeding Banga. Qian Weizhong of COSCO Shipping (Hong Kong) and Wang Yongxin of China Merchants Energy Shipping Company Limited were re-elected as the Vice Chairmen.Koo…

22 Nov 2023

MAN Engine Ordered for World's First Methanol-fueled VLCC

(Image: MAN Energy Solutions)

China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES), the Shanghai-listed shipping giant and daughter company of China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI), has ordered an MAN B&W 7G80ME-LGIM (-Liquid Gas Injection Methanol) main engine in connection with the construction of a very large crude carrier (VLCC). The first such dual-fuel methanol order for the ship type, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co (DSIC) will construct the vessel with delivery due by April 2026.CSE (China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation Diesel Engine Co.…

08 Nov 2023

US Commits $553M Financing for Adani Terminal Venture at Colombo Port

Credit: Vidu Gunaratna/AdobeStock

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) said it will provide $553 million financing for a Colombo port terminal project, partly owned by India's Adani Group, advancing the first foray by an Indian company into the sector.Sri Lanka, an island off India's southern coast, is mired in its worst financial crisis in over seven decades after its foreign exchange reserves ran to record lows last year, forcing its economy to contract by 7.8% in 2022. Ports-to-edible oils Adani group…

23 Oct 2023

Silverstream Gains AIP from China Classification Society

Left to right: Noah Silberschmidt, Founder & CEO, Silverstream; Liu Xiao Feng, Director CSS; Stephen Potts, COO, Silverstream; Sun Feng, Chairman & President, CCS. (Photo: Silverstream)

Maritime clean technology company Silverstream Technologies announced it has signed an agreement in principle (AIP) with China Classification Society (CCS), the primary class society in China that serves the shipping, offshore and related industrial industries.This is Silverstream’s first agreement of this nature with a classification society. The AIP confirms that CCS has reviewed and verified the Silverstream System’s design drawings and provides an independent class verification of its generic system design.

29 Sep 2023

IWS Fleet Strikes Deal to Put Off Yard Payments for Offshore Wind Service Vessels

  ©IWS Fleet

Integrated Wind Solutions' subsidiary, IWS Fleet AS, has agreed with the shipyard China Merchants Industry Holdings to postpone equity yard installments of a total of 36 million euros on IWS Seawalker, IWS Starwalker, IWS Moonwalker, and IWS Sunwalker offshore wind service vessels up to one year, to strengthen the company’s liquidity position. The delivery schedules for IWS Windwalker, IWS Seawalker, and IWS Sunwalker vessels are unchanged, while IWS Moonwalker and IWS Sunwalker are moved forward by one month.

29 Sep 2023

MacGregor to Deliver RoRo Equipment for Methanol-Fueled PCTCs in China

Credit: MacGregor

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has been chosen to deliver RoRo equipment for two of the world's first methanol-fueled Pure Car and Truck Carriers (PCTC) for China Merchant Energy Shipping to be built at China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. in China.The vessels are to be delivered to the owner between the third and fourth quarters of 2025.MacGregor´s scope of supply is to design and deliver the key components consisting of external and internal ramps, covers, electrically operated doors…

28 Sep 2023

New Car Carriers to Include Methanol Gensets

21/31DF-M courtesy of MAN

China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) has ordered six small-bore, seven-cylinder 21/31DF-M, methanol-burning gensets in connection with the construction of 2 × 9,300 ceu (car equivalent units) PCTCs for China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES).The business represents the very first order for the new methanol-powered, MAN four-stroke genset. MAN Energy Solutions’ licensee, CMP, will build the engines in China with first delivery due in Q1, 2025.The 3 × 7L21/31DF-M gensets aboard…

14 Sep 2023

Furetank and Algoma JV Orders Two More Vessels

(Photo: Furetank)

Furetank and Algoma Central Corporation announced further expansion of their FureBear joint venture with orders for two additional vessels. The two ships will be constructed at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Yangzhou, China, with delivery expected in second and third quarters of 2026.The new order for Vinga series vessels grows the FureBear joint venture to a total of 10 intermediate product tankers under construction, with the first vessel slated for delivery in the first quarter of 2024.

13 Sep 2023

Finnlines Names New RoPax Finnsirius

(Photo: Finnlines)

Finnlines on Wednesday held a naming ceremony in Naantali for its first of two new freight-passenger Superstar vessels, Finnsirius.The new ro-pax vessel, part of Finnlines €500-million Green Investment Program, was built by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Weihai, China.“Finnsirius is Finnlines’ new eco-efficient flagship, designed specifically for the fast-paced freight transport route between Finland and Sweden. At the same time, Finnsirius offers upgraded services and more travel comfort than the previous generation of ro-pax vessels.

13 Sep 2023

Wärtsilä to Equip World’s First Methanol-fuelled Hybrid RoRo Vessels

The ships will be the world’s first methanol fuelled hybrid RoRo vessels and will operate in the Stena Line Irish Sea system (illustrated - © Stena RoRo).

Finland-based marine technology group Wärtsilä will supply an integrated hybrid propulsion system for two new world’s first methanol-fuelled hybrid RoRo vessels The ships are being built at the China Merchants Jinling shipyard (Weihai) Co., Ltd for the Swedish shipping company Stena RoRo. The ships will operate in the Stena Line Irish Sea system. Each vessel will be equipped with two Wärtsilä 32M multi-fuel engines capable of operating on methanol fuel and with ammonia-ready notation.

30 Aug 2023

Furetank and Wärtsilä Advance Engine Technology to Reduce Methane Slip

Source: Furetank

Wärtsilä and Swedish shipping company Furetank are co-developing and testing two technologies showing the potential to halve the methane slip.Running vessels on LNG or bio-LNG reduces emissions of CO2, NOx, SOx and harmful particles, but the downside is methane slip: the release of unburned gas fuel, not fully combusted in the engines.Although the fraction released is small, methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2.Two technical solutions have been tested in Furetank’s Vinga series tankers.