Algoma Central Corporation has exercised an option at China’s Yangzijiang Shipyard to build a dry bulk vessel with a new design. No price has been revealed for the vessel.
Algoma’s new Equinox 2.0 Class builds on the original Equinox Class standards to achieve better fuel efficiency, improved speed at lower engine power, and enhanced deadweight capacity. The new Equinox 2.0 incorporates a number of design changes, including various weight-saving innovations and a reconfigured stern that incorporates a dual-rudder design to increase cargo hold size, resulting in an increase in the capacity of the vessel by approximately 1,440 tonnes. Other design improvements include an efficiency upgrade to the propeller and changes in the shape of cargo holds to improve the handling of certain sticky cargoes.
The new vessel is scheduled to replace the Algoma Transport, one of the oldest vessels in the Algoma dry bulk fleet. Construction of the ship will begin in late 2022 and the vessel is expected to join the fleet at the beginning of the 2024 navigation season on the Great Lakes where Algoma focuses its operations.
Algoma owns and operates the largest fleet of dry and liquid bulk carriers operating on the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Waterway. Algoma also owns ocean self-unloading dry bulk vessels operating in international markets and has a 50% interest in NovaAlgoma, which owns and operates a diversified portfolio of dry bulk carriers.
Construction of Dry bulk carrier with a new state-of-the art design finalized by Algoma with a chinese shipyard is encouraging news although the global shipping industry is still plagued with the problems created by the pandemic.