Beluga prepares for P-series heavy lifters

Beluga prepares for P-series heavy lifters    Ocean carrier Beluga Shipping of Germany will take delivery of a new class of heavy-lift cargo ship in early summer.
   The new ship, Beluga Persuasion, is part of the so-called P-series class, and included in an order of 16 ships to be delivered to Beluga between 2009 and 2011.

Illustration of a P-series vessel.

   Beluga expects a healthy heavy cargo market through 2011. 'For the extremely heavy cargo items over and above 500 tons the rates will remain firm even beyond that,' said Niels Stolberg, founder and chief executive officer of Beluga, which has a fleet of 63 multipurpose heavy lift project carriers.
   'We have to be able to load and discharge the heavy goods as safely and as close to the destination as possible, regardless of the existing port infrastructure,' Stolberg said. 'For this reason, we offer international clients a large number of identical vessels within our fleet that can be deployed flexibly according to the requirements ' Since our ships have a low draft, we can call nearly any port in the world, which is indispensable in tramp shipping.'
   The P-series vessels offer crane capacities for up to 1,400 tons. They will offer adjustable tweendecks and large cargo hatches to transport cargoes of up to 90 meters long.
   The ships are also designed to travel through polar regions, and two will be equipped with the new towing kite propulsion system, called SkySails, the company said.