MacGregor, part of Cargotec, a Finnish provider of cargo-handling machinery for ships, has secured contracts to supply loose lashing equipment for twelve 19,200 TEU container vessels under construction in South Korea for an undisclosed European owner. The equipment is planned for delivery during 2016.
Six containerships are being built at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) and the remaining six are under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI).
In addition to the loose lashing system, MacGregor is also delivering hatch covers and fixed lashing gear to the vessels under the contract.
“MacGregor is constantly working to increase the cargo system productivity of large container ships,” says Tommi Keskilohko , Director, Customer Solutions at MacGregor . “Adding loose lashings from the same supplier ensures that the lashings are designed to fit the rest of the cargo system in an optimised way and will help the vessels to reach their maximum cargo efficiency, flexibility and safety,” adds Keskilohko.
The owner of the vessels being built at SHI may be Scorpio Group, Monaco-based ship owner that ordered three container ships of the size in 2014, thus entering boxship market. Once delivered, the newbuilds are to be hired by Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) on a 15-year bareboat charter, according to Scorpio. In 2015, Scorpio Group ordered additional three vessels from SHI.
In 2014, China’s BoCom Leasing Group are reported to had ordered two 19,000 container vessels from DSME, also for charter to MSC. Maersk Line also ordered eleven 20,000 TEU boxships from the same shipyard, that are scheduled for delivery between 2017 and 2018.