Eimskip has been in negotiations with shipyards in China in relation to building of two 2,150 TEU container vessels. The company has finalized a contract with China Shipbuilding Trading Company Limited and Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard Co. Ltd.
The vessels are expected to be delivered in 2019. The contract is subject to financing and Eimskip is working on securing the funding of the vessels. Royal Arctic Line has also signed a contract of building one vessel of the same type with the same shipyard.
The new vessels will have an ice class and will be designed in accordance with the Polar Code. The vessels will have an overall length of 180 meters, breadth of 31 meters and they will have a TIER III engine which is especially built to lower Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emission into the atmosphere. The vessels will increase efficiency and service reliability as they are larger than current vessels in the trade and will be well equipped to sail in the North Atlantic. They will consume less fuel per container unit compared to older vessels, with lower emission due to a built-in scrubber system which minimizes Sulphur Oxide (SOx) emission into the atmosphere. Larger and more economical vessels will result in lower operational cost per container unit.
Eimskip and Royal Arctic Line have been forming and evaluating a framework for potential cooperation of sharing capacity. The parties have now signed an agreement for the cooperation, subject to notification to and confirmation from the relevant competition authorities if applicable.
Gylfi Sigfússon, President and CEO of Eimskip
“We are pleased that we have finalized a contract for the building of the new vessels. This is an important step in the renewal and development of Eimskip’s future vessel fleet. We have also reached an agreement with Royal Arctic Line, built on our long-lasting relationship and cooperation since 1993. The port developments in Nuuk, Reykjavík and Tórshavn will enable larger vessels to serve in our market area. We assume that the cooperation will increase business activities between the Arctic nations, especially between Iceland and Greenland, where activities have been limited due to lack of frequency and direct services.”
Verner Hammeken, CEO of Royal Arctic Line
“The agreement for the cooperation, subject to approval from relevant authorities, is a very important step to connect Greenland to the global markets. It creates opportunities for our export customers, allowing goods to be further refined in Greenland before transporting them directly to destinations all over the world in a more efficient way. Customers can also select transportation directly from new market areas instead of having to go only through Denmark. With this, we are looking at a future with more options, higher efficiency and making it easy to do business with Greenland.”
Source & Image credit: Eimskip
