Graig orders up to 26 container feeders

Graig orders up to 26 container feeders    Graig Group, a ship owner based in Cardiff, Wales, said Tuesday it plans to order up to 26 container feeder ships.
   The 'Marlin' ships are to be built at the Jin Hai shipyard complex near Shanghai China. The first two vessels are to be delivered in August and September 2013 with subsequent vessels to be delivered in pairs every two-and-a-half months.
   The company said the initial order is for three “Marlin 2000 Blue” geared vessels and three options followed by an understanding for the series to be extended up to twenty further vessels including other Marlin designs.
   The first vessels have been ordered by Graig and a number of partners, a mix of investors and ship owners.
   Finance support is being led by a major European bank and China's EXIM Bank. The exact price is confidential, but a company spokesman said they will cost about $30 million each, about the cost of ships with a conventional design.
   The Marlin 2000 Blue design have a maximum nominal capacity of 2,083 TEUs and carry a homogenous load of 1,251 containers loaded to 14 tons per TEU with 55 percent bunkers, provisions, and stores at departure.

A rendering of the Marlin 2000 Blue design.

   In addition to the Marlin 2000 Blue design, which is for a ship burning heavy fuel oil, the company has developed a Marlin 2500 Jade design that would burn heavy fuel oil, but would be equipped with selective catalytic reduction and scrubber technology, and a Marlin 2500 Green design that would burn heavy fuel oil or gas. The 2500 Jade ship would carry a maximum of 2,490 TEUs, the 2500 Green ship 2,458 TEUs.
   Graig said it sold its fleet in 2008 at the peak of the market and is now going to reinvest. It manages nine ships for other firms and is overseeing the building of 50 ships for other owners.
   “Discussions on charters for the vessels are advanced with a number of global liner companies,” the company said.
   'There is a gap in the containership market for quality, fuel-efficient, competitively priced and environmentally friendly feeder ships to service the ultra-large containerships now being brought into service by the major lines,” said Hugh Williams, chief executive officer of Graig. “This advanced Marlin family of designs will fill that gap.”
   The company said the Marlin series of designs has been developed by W'rtsil', working with Graig and the classification society Det Norske Veritas. There are a number of variants of the design, Graig said, but the series delivers about 30 percent improved fuel efficiency per TEU carried, improved capacity and slow steaming potential, better loading flexibility for different container types including a high reefer intake, and lower emissions when compared to vessels in service. ' Chris Dupin