Much attention has been given to the major Players in the world of container shipping in recent years with the race to exceed the 20,000 TEU capacity barrier and beyond, plus who can take the crown as operating the largest ship in terms of capacity, size or both. However, the small and medium sized container vessels also deserve more of the limelight than they receive as their role is vital, especially in the short sea and feeder sectors of the industry. If anything, the feeder services are on the increase with new services coming to the North Sea recently from companies such as Samskip whilst even P&O Ferries now offer a Lo/Lo service from Hull. One of the younger operations in European waters is Cargow BV of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The company was founded in 2012 by Øyvind Sivertsen and Karl Hardarson, both with extensive experience in the shipping industry, shortly thereafter joined by Bjarni Armannsson who brought in banking and financial expertise. Stefan H. Stefansson joined the company in 2014, is currently the Chief Executive Officer and kindly supplied the material for this feature. Cargow provides a transport link between the Continent, Norway, UK, Faroe Islands and Iceland, working with leading professionals in the short sea and deep sea segments. The international aluminium industry is served and, as an industrial carrier, Cargow offers liner services with container, reefer and project cargo capabilities.

Fleet Investment

In 2017 Cargow looked to increase capacity and introduced the first in a new line of energy-efficient vessels. The initial ship was delivered in the form of a 12000dwt Multipurpose Cargo Vessel for the solid bulk/container trade. The 9,717gt Frigg W is the first of four efficient and more environmentally friendly vessels and is chartered from Million Comets S.A, part of KK Kyowa Sansho of Japan. The contract for the newbuilds was signed on 1st September 2014 and the keel for Hull No. SF140201 was laid on 16th October 2016 at the Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. shipyard in China. Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. is a robust large-scale ship-building company and as early as 2006 it was ranked as one of the Jiangsu Top 10 Shipbuilding Enterprises. The yard is on the Yangtze River with the port of Taizhou to the north, Nantong city to the east, Yangzhou city to the west, and several big cities including Shanghai and Nanjing to the south. Established in 1985, the facility includes three factory areas, namely the Kou’an site, Yong’an site and Taixing site. Covering a total area of around 1.5 million square metres with more than 2,000m of natural shoreline along the Yangtze River, the site is perfect for shipbuilding. The shipyard boasts advanced production equipment plus no less than six slipways, among which are one 50,000t/180m long side launching slipway, a 20,000t/140m, 20,000t/170m and 50,000t/190m longitudinal slipway and two 80,000t/250m longitudinal slipways. The shipyard is capable of building a great variety of Bulk Carriers, Container Vessels, Multipurpose Container (MPC) Vessels plus Oil/Chemical Tankers under 100,000dwt. Tugs and Offshore Vessels are also on the product list. At present the principle newbuilds include 6,500dwt Bulk Carriers, 12,000dwt MPCs, 57,000dwt Bulk Carriers, 16,500dwt Product Oil/Chemical Tankers, 16,800dwt Petrochemical Vessels, 92,500dwt Bulk Carriers and 16,900dwt Bulk Carriers. Output from the yard is generally 18-24 ships per annum with Clients worldwide. The Limassol registered Frigg W was launched on 2nd March 2017 and delivered on 10th October 2017 following fitting out and sea trials. The ship then proceeded to the Port of Nangtong in China and, on 21st October 2017, departed on her delivery voyage to Rotterdam. To make the best use of this voyage the ship was chartered out and carried her first cargo on a 94-day passage that took her to Qingdao, Zhanjiang, Fuzhou and Zhuhai (all in China) and onwards via Singapore and Cape Town for bunkering before her final calls in Nouadhibou, Caronte and Vigo. The Frigg W subsequently sailed Vigo-Rotterdam to complete her conveyance to her new home and was christened jointly by four Godmothers on a wet 31st January during a ceremony at Rotterdam’s Wilhelminakade. The ship’s name is linked to the Old Norse word Frigg referring to a Goddess or Lady, other spellings including Frija (Old High German), Frea (Langobardic), and Frige (Old English). Many sources also describe Frigg as the wife of the god Odin or having a connection with the goddess Fulla. The three sisterships will follow in due course.

North Atlantic Cargo

As mentioned above, the Frigg W is a 12,000dwt Multipurpose Cargo Vessel with a length overall of 137.94m, a load line length of 131.82m, a 21.40m beam, scantling draught of 8.05m and a hull depth of 11.00m. The machinery spaces are located aft and occupy the Tanktop and Tweendeck levels of the vessel. The main engine is a MAN 6S40ME-B9 with a maximum continuous revolution (MCR) of 5,460kW at 124rpm. Onboard power is provided by three 6L16/24 Shanghai Qiyao auxilliary engines

Plus one 6CT8.3-D(M) Emergency Generator is installed. The main engine drives a SMARD mono-block propeller with an approximate diameter of 5 metres and the steering gear is of the electrically driven Macgregor rotary vane Triton 450-45 type. Manoeuvrability is assisted by a single Wärtsilä FT125 transverse tunnel bow thruster. The ship’s service endurance is approximately 11,000 nautical miles and the service speed is 15 knots. The ship’s revenue earning capacity is provided in the form of Cargo Hold No.1 (located forward) and Cargo Hold No.2.

The hold dimensions are 30.75 long, 15.08m wide and 10.04m deep and 55.50m long, 17.60m wide and 12.56m deep respectively. The holds also narrow to 8.25m at the bow (Hold 1) and superstructure (Hold 2). The overall hold capacity is 15,760m3. The Tweendeck can be inserted at three levels, 3.2m, 5.2m and 7.2m above the tank top. No.2 cargo hold can also be fitted with two bulkheads for the shipment of grain or similar dry bulk cargo if required. Four cargo hatches cover Hold No.1 and 8 cover Hold No.2 and are of the concertina style, stowing 50/50 at either end of each hold. When not in use, the Tweendeck sections are stowed aft of No.2 Hold in front of the superstructure. The container capacity within the holds is 346 TEU and the strengthened hatchcovers can accommodate 488 TEU when the Tweendeck sections are not carried aboard or 468 TEU when the Tweendeck sections are stowed aboard, thus reducing capacity by 20 TEU. This class of vessel is specially strengthened to fit the trade and fully equipped to carry break bulk as well as containers. A total of 80 reefer plugs are provided plus 20 spares. The container types shipped include Dry (suitable for commodities in bundles, cartons, boxes, loose cargo, bulk etc.), High-Cube (taller than standard containers therefore more volume), Pallet-wide containers for shipping Euro-pallets, Open Top, suitable for high large piece cargo that cannot be loaded through container doors such as machinery, sheet glass, marble, building materials and lumber, Flat Rack, for carrying awkward and oversize loads such as machinery, cables, drums, sheet and steel coils, heavy vehicles, timber and forest products and Reefer Units for chilled and frozen cargo. Situated on the port side of the upper deck are two Macgregor cranes with a safe working load (SWL) of 60mt at an outreach of 25m with the SWL being 45mt at the maximum outreach of 33m. Located between the two holds are Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) tanks. The superstructure has 7 levels from the Upper Deck upwards. At Upper Deck level the facilities include food stores, a changing room, air conditioning room, CO2 room, emergency generator room and accommodation for a Suez Canal crew. One level up is the Poop Deck that houses the Crew Mess, Duty Mess, Officers Mess, Galley, Deck Office/Meeting Room and store. The next level is A Deck with 6 crew cabins, the recreation room and hospital whilst B Deck has 7 crew cabins and the gymnasium. On C Deck can be found five Officers cabins plus the Officer’s Recreation Room and D Deck consists of Captain and Officers cabins, a spare cabin, Pilot accommodation and an office area for the Captain/Chief Engineer & Engineer. The uppermost enclosed deck is the Bridge Deck, which of course consists of the Wheelhouse.

The Frigg W has joined Cargow’s liner service where she will trade along with her expected sister vessels in a service between West Norway, Rotterdam and the East coast of Iceland, conveying both break bulk as well as containerised cargo. The newbuilds will provide Cargow with a first class fleet of green vessels with an Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) score of 24% better than the base line requirement for newbuild vessels of this kind. The company’s CO2 emissions are also expected to be reduced by around 40% per tonne per nautical mile. The Frigg W’s maiden voyage departed Rotterdam on 31st January 2018, arrived at Reydarfjordur (Iceland) on 4th February and returned to Rotterdam on 11th February.

The liner system is currently operated by five vessels and provides weekly sailings both northbound and southbound between Rotterdam and the West coast of Norway, and the East coast of Iceland. This service has now been in operation for five years. Four vessels trade on a 28-day round voyage, between Mosjoen in Norway, to Rotterdam, to Reydarfjordur in Iceland and back via Rotterdam to Mosjoen. En-route the vessels can call additional ports, both on the Icelandic leg as well as the Norwegian leg. The ships in question are the MarMakira MarMaui, MarMindoro and Frigg W. The additional ports include Ålesund, Bergen, Gjemnes and Stavanger on the Mosjøen service and Hull on the Reydarfjordur service. A Rotterdam-Kristiansand-Farsund-Rotterdam round trip is also operated by the Samira. (See fleet details below). The ships operate from Rotterdam-Beatrixhaven and the quayside sees a visit from up to three ships every Monday. Cargow’s liner service supports a long-term contract with Alcoa regarding the annual shipment of approximately 1 million tonnes of aluminium, anodes and other supplies between Norway, Iceland and Rotterdam. The company of Alcoa is built on a foundation dating back nearly 130 years to the world-changing discovery that made aluminum an affordable and vital part of modern life. As the inventor of the aluminium industry, Alcoa has followed on with breakthrough after breakthrough in best practices that lead to efficiency, safety and sustainability in the industry.

The Cargow Fleet

Samira

• Ship type: Break bulk cargo ship
• Built: 2004
• Length overall/Beam: 80m/10m
• GT/NT/DWT: 1,435gt/718t/1,830dwt
• 1x Hold – Hatch Covers:
• Pontoons with gantry crane

MarMakira

• Container and heavy lifting/project cargo ship
• Built: 2007
• Length overall/Beam: 145.63m/18.25m
• GT/NT/DWT: 7,878gt/3,909t/11,211dwt
• Cranes: 2x80ts on starboard side – 2x Holds – Hatch Covers: Pontoons with gantry crane

MarMaui

• Container and heavy lifting/project cargo ship
• Built: 2008
• Length overall/Beam: 145.63m/18.25m
• GT/NT/DWT: 7,878gt/3,909t/11,083dwt
• Cranes: 2x80ts on starboard side – Holds: 2 – Hatch Covers: Pontoons with gantry crane

MarMindoro

• Container and heavy lifting/project cargo ship
• Built: 2008
• Length overall/Beam: 145.63m/18.25m
• GT/NT/DWT: 7,878gt/3,243t/11,121dwt
• Cranes: 2x80ts on starboard side – 2x Holds – Hatch Covers: Pontoons with gantry crane

Frigg W

• Container and heavy lifting/project cargo ship
• Built: 2017
• Length overall/Beam: 137.95m/21.66m
• GT/NT/DWT: 9,717gt/4,265t/12,000dwt
• Cranes: 2x60ts on portside – 2x Holds – Hatch Covers: Pontoons with gantry crane

Special thanks must go to Stefan H. Stefansson, CEO of Cargow B.V, for the provision of information and images/diagrams.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS