London: Rickmers Reederei has signed a $260m deal with STX, South Korea, which is building three “state-of-the-art” 9,300-teu containerships for the Rickmers Group subsidiary.
“The market demands large fuel-efficient ships to sustainably lower slot costs, that is costs per transported container unit, to a competitive level,” Dr Ignace Van Meenen, Rickmers Group CEO, said today.
Two of the energy-efficient vessels will be delivered in the next six months, with a third following in February 2016.
Long-term timecharters worth a combined $200m have already been agreed with French container line CMA CGM.
“We are also proud to uphold an old Rickmers tradition in naming these ships: the RC Rickmers, the first newbuild, will be the seventh vessel since 1868 with this name; followed by the seventh Peter Rickmers and the fourth Mai Rickmers,” van Meenen added.
Rickmers says the vessels will use much less fuel and emit “radically” lower volumes of carbon dioxide, sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides than conventional vessels.
The German carrier is funding the newbuilding project through a joint investment with a “renowned” bank and an international financial investor.
“More consistently than before, we plan to provide the required financial resources for this through tapping international capital markets,” Prof. Dr Erdmann, CFO of Rickmers Group, said today.
