Rickmers-Linie adds to order book

Rickmers-Linie adds to order book Rickmers-Linie, the Hamburg, Germany-based heavy-lift and project cargo shipping company, on Tuesday ordered four 24,000-deadweight-ton multipurpose vessels from Chinese shipbuilder Guangzhou Wenchong.
   The order was placed by Rickmers Group company Polaris Shipmanagement with delivery scheduled for May 2011 through December 2011.
   The new vessels are identical to Polaris’ July order for four of the so-called 'Superflex Mumbai Max Class' vessels coming from Wuhu Xinlian Shipbuilding. All eight of the ships will have an overall length of 175 meters, a beam of 26.5 meters, and be fitted with variable height tweendecks. Each vessel will be equipped with three cranes, one capable of lifting 120 tons and two 350-ton units that can be combined to handle loads of up to 700 tons. The service speed of the ships will be up to 18 knots.
   “Between December 2009 and December 2011, we will add altogether 18 vessels (all contracted in China) in three different sizes to our fleet,” said Jan Boje Steffens, president and chief executive officer of Rickmers-Linie. 'Upon completion of this expansion program, we will have one of the most modern