April 18 - Chinese-Polish Joint Stock Shipping (Chipolbrok) has taken delivery of the second sister ship in a series of four newbuild heavy lift general cargo vessels from Shanghai Shipyard.
Nowowiejski is now on its way from Zhangjiagang to Europe with a cargo consisting of 28,000 tonnes of industrial plant equipment.
HLPFI reported in December 2015 that Chipolbrok had taken delivery of the first in the series of four ships, which it had contracted from the Chinese shipyard in February 2015.
Chipolbrok says that the new ships were ordered to gradually replace its older Szymanowski type, triple deck vessels, which were built between 1991 and 1998.
The company has previously stated that it is more focused on replacing tonnage than growing its fleet given the overcapacity in the marketplace.
The four newbuilds are larger in size, capacity, speed and lifting capabilities than the shipping line's existing vessels.
With overall lengths of 189.9 m and widths of 28 m, the new ships feature three 350-tonne capacity cranes and five hatches with access to three large cargo holds with a maximum hatch opening of 50.56 m.
The vessels also have flat obstacle-free weather decks measuring around 2,795 sq m, which allows cargoes of up to 135 m long - such as offshore wind turbine blades and flare towers - to be loaded.
The delivery of the last two vessels - Chipolbrok Atlantic and Paderewski will take place in May and July, respectively.
With these new vessels Chipolbrok says that it is opening the door to a new generation of multipurpose geared general cargo ships, which are somewhat unique in the global shipping industry and underline the owners' leading position in the trade between China, Europe and US ports.
