In ferry shipping, Chinese shipyards seem to grab a bigger share in the newbuilding market. Recent European orders were placed in the Far East
Italian-Swiss MSC Group and Onorato Armatori signed what they call a »historical contract« with Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) for[ds_preview] the order of four luxurious RoPax ferries. OSK-ShipTech is behind the concept design for the largest ferry order ever. The contract was signed at a ceremony in Beijing. It is the long-standing cooperation between both OSK, yard and owners, which results in this project, the designer said.
»Our two largest clients are now doing business together, so to us, this is a dream-scenario, where we are appointed designers on the basis of earlier projects and long-term successful cooperation with all parties. This is such a significant project, and this order is a fantastic opportunity to bring our competencies, the yard’s strength and the owners’ joint pool of many years of experience into play,« says CCO of OSK Group, Anders Ørgård.
The new RoPax-ferries will each have a capacity of 3,765 lane meters and 536 cabins with room for 2,500 passengers in total. The accommodation will have a modern, clean look and will be designed based on passenger needs and spaciousness. Technologically, the ferries will be LNG-ready and »fitted with the latest technologies for energy optimisation«.
Italian operator GNV under MSC Group will take two ferries, and the other two will be delivered to Italian operator Onorato Armatori. The contract includes an option for four additional ferries of the same type. »In any case, this a record ferry order – and a quantum leap for the joint cooperation between GSI and OSK,« it was added.
OSK-CEO Jacob Thygesen said, »Both in Danish standards, but on a global scale as well, this is in any possible way a significant order in the current RoPax market.« The first of the four ferries is scheduled for delivery to GNV in 2021.
Deltamarin expertise for DFDS
In another recent newbuilding project, Finnish Deltamarin has signed a contract with Chinese Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) for consultancy and engineering services for the new DFDS RoPax ferries. Deltamarin earlier carried out contract design of the ship concept for GSI in close cooperation with the owner.Deltamarin will provide the yard with basic (approval) and detail design together with Safe Return to Port (SRtP) documentation. The contract covers all disciplines and all areas. The value of Deltamarin’s contract with GSI is about 5 mill. €. The work will be carried out at Deltamarin’s offices in Finland and China with the assistance of network companies from Europe over an estimated period of 13 months.
Both ships are planned to be delivered in 2021 and built at GSI’s Nansha yard. »This significant order supports our strategy to further strengthen our position in the passenger vessel segment. We are very proud of this new contract and extremely happy to start cooperation with Guangzhou Shipyard International to ensure that DFDS will get the next-generation vessels to support their growth strategy in the Baltic Sea,« says Deltamarin’s Managing Director Janne Uotila.
According to the owner, the 230m long RoPax ferries will carry 4,500 lane metres of freight and passenger vehicles as well as 600 passengers. The ships are planned to be deployed on one of the Baltic routes connecting Lithuania to either Sweden or Germany. They will be fitted with exhaust gas scrubbers and have ice class 1C.
