Rickmers-Linie upgrades Indian service with new vessels

Four new vessels are in the process of entering this service. ‘Linde’ and ‘Martin’ have been long-term chartered by the line, while ‘Rickmers Yokohama’ and ‘Rickmers Tianjin’ are due for delivery from the Xinshun Shipyard Group in China this month (May) and July respectively. The ‘Linde’ was the first to be phased in, starting her first eastbound voyage in mid March.

Both the 12,800dwt chartered vessels are equipped with two 120-tonne capacity cranes that can be twinned to lift 240 tonnes, whilst the two new-build 17,000dwt vessels are each equipped with two 150-tonne cranes and an 80-tonne crane. This enables them to lift up to 300 tonnes by twinning the two larger cranes.

Being smaller than the nine 30,000dwt vessels operated by Rickmers on its Round-the-World Pearl String service, the ships on the revamped Indian service will offer greater flexibility in ports where locks restrict the size of vessels.