BSM Germany to Manage Its First Ice Class Boxships

Germany-based maritime services firm Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) has taken Eilbek, the first of four ice class container feeder vessels, into management.

The remaining three ships, Barmbek, Reinbek and Flottbek, are expected to follow by mid-April, according to BSM.

Eilbek class feeder vessels are the first ships constructed and adapted for operation in ice class conditions to be managed by BSM Germany.

“Management of these four ships marks another important milestone in BSM’s continuing expansion into more specialist market segments, following entry into service of the highly sophisticated wind energy Service Operation Vessel, Windea La Cour, last June and the recent delivery of her sister vessel, Windea Leibniz,” Jan Warmke, Managing Director of BSM Germany, said.

Built in 2004 and 2005 at Meyer-Werft in Papenburg, Germany, each of the ice-class ships has a capacity of 1,600 TEU and a service speed of up to 20 knots.

The move comes on the back of the acquisition of the four ice class container feeder vessels by an investor group represented by the Schulte Group.

Following change of ownership, the vessels have been re-flagged from Liberia to Cyprus and will maintain their current time charter employments with Unifeeder, BSM informed.