The collapse of KG financing is 2008 was a blow to German owners, but with Carl Büttner naming the first of four new Chinese-built 38,000 dwt IMO II product and chemical tankers, the market is seeing new growth
Bremen-based tanker shipping company Carl Büttner Holding has announced the naming of the first of its “Project Green” 38,000 dwt IMO II product and chemical handysize tankers. The CB Adriatic was presented to its new owners at the New Hantong Shipyard in Yangzhong, China, this week.
The 183 m-long and 32 m-wide newbuilding is the first ship in a series of four identical sister ships coming out of Project Green; the other three vessels will be delivered in the months of January, March and May 2020.
Carl Büttner’s managing director Thorsten Mackenthun said "Three identical sister ships lined up in a row is a very rare sight anyway; in today’s time when German shipowners hardly have the opportunity to order newbuildings, it is an absolute exception.”
All Project Green tankers are equipped with hybrid scrubbers (Carl Büttner has been a pioneer in the fitment of exhaust gas control equipment). All the newbuildings’ propulsion systems meet IMO Tier III requirements with selective catalytic reduction systems. A state-of-the-art, full-electronic main engine is expected to consume up to 40% less fuel than current vessels. The drive train includes a controllable pitch propeller as well as a bow thruster.
The tankers have 14 cargo tanks with a total capacity of 44,500 m3. The tanker coatings allow the loading of about 96% of all easychems as well as oil products. The tanks are equipped with high-quality pumps with loading rates of 5,000 m3/ hour and discharge rates of 3,750 m3/ hour.
The hull design is optimised compared to earlier similar tankers. A key feature is shallow draft, but slightly wider to load allows up to 3,000 tons more cargo than competitors for important ports on the North European continent. The Project Green ships are equipped for the winter trip in the Baltic - with the ice class 1B steel reinforcement of the foreship.
New Hantong Shipyard in Yangzhong was chosen for the build because of its experience and technical know-how, according to Mr Mackenthun, who said "There was simultaneous monitoring of the shipyard by a highly professional supervision team.”
Investment in shipping in Germany has been almost dormant since the collapse of the German KG system in 2008. Finding funding was a question of having the right story to tell, according to Mr Mackenthun.
“Since September 2008, the international, but especially the German shipping environment has been an extremely difficult (funding) environment. But we restructured our company, and we were finally able to put together a package with two banks, one German and one Dutch. The ships are coming at exactly the right time. Since the use of new fuels becomes mandatory worldwide from 1st January 2020, we have a competitive edge, because we already meet all the requirements that others have to retrofit or cannot meet. In this respect, we are optimistic with a portion of prudence about a successful commercial marketing of the newbuildings," he said.
CB Adriatic was named in honour of the Rijeka region at the Adriatic Sea, the source of Carl Büttner’s seafarers. Thorsten Mackenthun said the other vessels in the series will be named after Carl Büttner’s home region of the Baltic and some of the regions where the company trades.
Thorsten Mackenthun noted that interest in the new vessel from oil majors and other cargo owners is high, and the vessel already has cargoes lined up for its voyage from the yard to Northern Europe.
The outlook of the tanker markets will be one of the hot topics under discussion at the Tanker Shipping & Trade Conference, Exhibition and Awards to be held in London this month.
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