Celsius Shipping of Denmark has bought four tankers from Kirk Kapital, which means that the latter company no longer has any connection with shipping. Kirk Kapital sold two other tankers to the Danish shipowner Norden in April having sustained losses in its shipping business amounting to 224m Danish Kroner in 2017. The four tankers to be taken over are the 30,241gt/2009 built Gunhild Kirk, 31,510gt/2010 built Christina Kirk plus the 23,244gt/2004 built Marie Kirk and Edith Kirk, boosting the Celsius fleet to 38. Celsius was founded by Jeppe Jensen in 2013.

Concordia Maritime revealed on 25th May that it had decided to participate in three Suez-max tankers chartered in by Stena Bulk. The 158,000dwt vessels were built in Korea during 2012-2014. The contracts are for 12 months, with an option to extend until the end of 2019. After delivery in May and July, the vessels will be employed on the spot market through the successful Stena Sonangol Suezmax Pool. Concordia Maritime’s share in the vessel charters is 50%. The contracts also include a profit-sharing clause with the contractual partner. Concordia Maritime’s presence in the Suez-max segment has been represented by the 81,187gt/2012 built Stena Supreme since she was delivered. This ship is also employed on the spot market via the Stena Sonangol Suezmax Pool. The pool, controlled by Stena Bulk and the Angolan state oil company Sonangol, comprises a total of around 25 efficient Suez-max tankers.

dship Carriers announced on 28th May that it had purchased the first of two F-500 newbuilds from Taizhou Sanfu Shipbuilding (above). This order is part of the fleet expansion programme initiated earlier this year. Not only do the F-500 vessels cater to changing industry needs, they also support a smaller environmental footprint. The delivery of the first vessel is expected by November 2018, and the second vessel is due to join the fleet in the first quarter of 2019. The F-500 vessel type belongs to the new generation of economic multi-purpose vessels, which have been specially developed to reduce fuel consumption and to increase stowage flexibility. The company is also looking at further purchase opportunities on the new build and second hand tonnage markets in order to continue its fleet expansion. The technical specifications of the new vessels make them a highly sought-after addition to the existing dship Carriers fleet. With a combined lifting capacity of 500 metric tons, they will be able to handle heavy and lengthy project cargo units. The second hold, with a length of over 75m, allows for the loading of extremely long cargo under deck, so clients can enjoy enhanced services that provide more stowage options.

Grimaldi Group christened another pure car & truck carrier (PCTC), the 62,134gt/2018 built Grande Halifax, in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 16th May. The ceremony took place at Halterm/Autoport. The ship was built at the Chinese shipyard of Jinling and is 199.9m long with a 32.26m beam and a cruising speed of 19 knots. Italian-flagged, she can accommodate 6,700 CEU or alternatively 4,000 lanemetres of rolling cargo and 2,500 CEU. Equipped with four hoistable decks, the Grande Halifax is able to transport any type of rolling cargo with a height of up to 5.2m. The ship also has a side ramp and a quarter stern ramp, the latter allowing the loading of freight with a weight up to 150 tons. The Grande Halifax, together with another four PCTCs, is deployed on the Mediterranean-North America weekly Ro-Ro service operated by the group, serving the ports of Halifax, Davisville, New York, Baltimore, Jacksonville, Houston, Tuxpan, Veracruz, Antwerp, Valencia, Savona, Livorno, Salerno and Gioia Tauro.

The Hartmann Family in partnership with the CSL Group has formed a 50/50 joint venture to build and operate a 190m long, 29m beam, 10.80m draught and 40,000dwt gravity self-unloading vessel to trade in Europe. The new ship will be built at Chengxi Shipyard in China and is scheduled for delivery in Germany in 2020.

The vessel will serve the Mibau Stema Group on a long-term charter. The joint venture represents an expansion of existing activities in Europe for both Hartmann and CSL. The Hartmann Family already owns a fleet of belt self-unloading ships that are chartered to the Mibau Stema Group, which is a joint venture between Heidelberg Cement AG and the Hartmann Family.

Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding delivered the 113,397gt/2018 built CESI Lianyungang, the final LNG carrier built for SINOPEC’s LNG project, on 31st May. Ordered by the joint venture of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited (CCSC) and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC), the 290m long, 45.6m beam and 174,100cbm capacity ship is the sixth vessel in the China LNG Transportation Project and will serve a long-term charter transporting SINOPEC’s LNG cargo purchased from the Australia Pacific LNG Project. The five vessels already delivered for the project are jointly owned by MOL (20%), CCSC and SINOPEC (80%).

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) has taken delivery of the 88,000dwt coal carrier Corona Xanadu. The 49,713gt ship was built at Shin Kasado Dockyard, part of Imabari Shipbuilding Group, and belongs to K Line’s specialised fleet for transport of thermal coal known as the Corona-series. The Corona-series coal carriers feature a wide beam and shallow draught and the Corona Xanadu is the second of the series following on from the Corona Wisdom, delivered in January. On 4th June K Line then announced the delivery of the 161,483gt/311,979dwt VLCC Tedorigawa at Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering Co. Ltd. The ship is 339.50m long with a 60m beam, a 21m draught and has a tank capacity of 350,399.9m3.

Sailcargo Inc. is currently in the process of building a carbon-negative sailing cargo tallship on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Essentially, the aim of this project is centred around the building of a combustion-free sailing cargo ship, to be named Ceiba, in what is striving to be the world’s first carbon-neutral shipyard in Costa Rica. The build is being undertaken using old-world ship building techniques run on renewable energy. The project will produce a wooden, three-masted, square topsail schooner to trade carbon-neutral, honest goods using wind power along The Pacific Exchange (PAX) Line.

The project is international, drawing in people from all over the world to volunteer and share their skills and expertise to move things forward. A further update in early June revealed that the final shipyard structure had been completed with the 12m high building hanger was almost finished. Woods being used include the Cereza (Yellowheart) tree from the Monteverde Cloud Forest for a centrepiece aboard the Ceiba, the Cedro Nogal (tropical walnut) tree and giant storm-fallen Tamarindo del Monte trees that are destined to become the keel of the ship.

Scorpio Tankers has agreed sale and leaseback deals for 5 of its product tankers with AVIC International Leasing. The vessels in question are the 29,715gt/2013 built MR product tankers STI Ville, STI Fontvieille and 29,735gt/2015 built STI Brooklyn plus two LR2 product tankers, the 62,684gt/2015 built STI Rose and 63,704gt/2017 built STI Rambla. The deal also involves Scorpio Tankers taking the vessels on bareboat charter for a period of eight years.

The company has purchase options beginning at the end of the second year of each agreement, as well as a purchase obligation for each vessel upon the expiration of each agreement. Several days later the company reached an agreement to sell and leaseback a further six MR product tankers to CMB Financial Leasing. The ships in question are the 29,785gt/2014 built STI Battery and STI Milwaukee, the 29,735gt/2015 built STI Tribeca, STI Bronx and STI Manhattan plus the 29,785gt/2015 built STI Seneca.

Star Bulk Carriers is buying Songa Bulk of Norway, founded in 2016 by the Blystad Group. The latter has a fleet of 15 vessels, namely three Capesizes, 10 Kamsarmaxes, one Ultramax and one Supramax making a total deadweight capacity of 1.48m dwt.