TBS enters the heavy lift business

TBS enters the heavy lift business Breakbulk and drybulk shipping specialist TBS International said it has taken delivery of its first heavy-lift tweendecker.
   The company acquired Zia Belle, previously known as the CEC Cardigan, a 1997 built, 8,734-deadweight-ton heavy-lift multipurpose tweendecker with two 150-ton cranes, combinable up to 300 tons.
   The company agreed to acquire this vessel charter free for $20.6 million in September.
   With the delivery, TBS’s fleet comprises 47 vessels with an aggregate of 1.4 million dwt, comprising 24 tweendeckers and 23 handymax/handysize bulk carriers. The company also has on order six 34,000 dwt multipurpose vessels, with retractable tweendecks, two of which are scheduled for delivery in 2009 and the remaining four in 2010.