Algerian liner in for pair of 1,700 teu boxships

News from Alphaliner that Alergian liner firm CNAN-Med has bought two 1,700 teu ships which are being fitted out at yards in China at the moment appears to be a little premature. The ships are reported as the 1,714 teu Sarang, owned by Freedom Shipping (which Splash understands is a subsidiary of German KG NSC Shipping) and the 1,700 teu Mount Hallowes owned by Hong Kong’s Mandarin Shipping.

Officials from Mandarin however tell Splash the Mount Hallowes ship has not been sold yet. “The vessel was entered into a tender with CNAN but they have yet to lift their buyer’s subjects,” a source at Mandarin explained.

“These ships will be CNAN-Med’s first owned fully cellular containerships and will be the biggest ships in its fleet, dwarfing the company’s current flagship, the 12,500 dwt multipurpose cargo vessel Titteri, able to load up to 813 teu,” Alphaliner said in its latest weekly update. The vessels will be deployed on routes linking Algeria with southern Europe.

CNAN-Med Spa was set up in 2005 as an affiliate of the CNAN Shipping Group, which emerged from the dissolution of state-controlled SNTM / CNAN in 2003.