The John T. Essberger Group has signed final agreements with China Merchants Jinling Shipyard Dingheng to build four 6,600 dwt stainless steel parcel chemical tankers with options for an additional four vessels.
The stainless steel tankers, IMO Type II, will all have dual-fuel LNG propulsion and will be certified Finnish/Swedish 1A ice class.
The new vessels will be optimised in terms of hull design and equipment, resulting in a significantly improved energy efficiency of at least 30% and the ability of using shore power connection during cargo operations.
The newbuildings are expected to be delivered from mid-2023 and will be operated by E&S Tankers focusing on the European short-sea chemical market.
The Essberger fleet currently consists of 34 parcel chemical tankers, all under the E&S Tankers brand, as well as four container vessels.
The newbuilding project is being subsidised by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure as part of the implementation of the German government’s Mobility and Fuel Strategy (MKS) with a total of EUR1.58m ($2m) per vessel.