Ten new ships for Rickmers-Linie

All ten ships will be purpose-built by Chinese shipyards and will replace older vessels in Rickmers-Linie’s worldwide fleet, securing capacity for further development of the network.

Six 19,000 dwt ships will be built by Tongfang Shipyard. Each vessel will be equipped with two 240-tonne cranes, capable of working in tandem to lift 480 tonnes. One of the three holds will have a hatch opening of 52.5 m x 18 m and the betweendecks will be adjustable, a feature first introduced on the 30,000 dwt Superflex Heavy MPC vessels, which the company received from Chinese shipyards in 2002–04.

The length of these vessels will be 148 m, with a beam of 23.4 m and a draught of 9.8 m. They will have a service speed of 16 knots. The ships, which are designed primarily for the Europe to Middle East/India trade, are planned for delivery at various points through 2010.