The two newbuildings were docked out at Zhoushan Changhong International Shipyard last week on 29 November. They are the first two in a series of 10 vessels with a capacity of 11,480 teu. All these new boats will be equipped with lng dual-fuel engines.

A large windshield was installed on the prow to reduce wind resistance while sailing. This can reduce fuel consumption by about 5% at best. As bunker costs weigh heavily in the total cost, any savings are a nice bonus.

ONE
MSC already had a spoiler fitted to the 25-year-old ship 'MSC Sydney VI' (5,608 teu) earlier this year. The lng-fuelled 8,300 teu 'MSC Ivory Coast' was also delivered earlier this month by New Century Shipbuilding in Jiangsu with a large windshield on the bow.

ONE was the first major container shipping company to opt for wind screens. The Japanese carrier had existing ships retrofitted two years ago and also had screens installed on newbuildings. CMA CGM was the first carrier to follow suit, and after MSC, Singaporean shipping company PIL will do the same.

Good customer
For Zhoushan Changhong International Shipyard, MSC is a very good customer. After a first batch of 10 sister ships of 11,480 teu on lng, the Chinese yard may build a second batch of 10 units of 10,300 teu on lng for the Geneva-based shipping company.

In August this year, MSC also placed an order with this yard for 12 sister ships of 19,000 teu. Not only will they be capable of running on lng, they will also be given 'amonia-ready' status. This means that a possible later conversion to run on ammonia is already taken into account during construction.

Source: Flows