The world's largest container ships MSC Irina and MSC Loreto floated

The world's largest container ship MSC Irina was floated(Image: Phaata / MegaShipVideos)

 
MSC's growth as the world's largest container shipping company is continuing unabated despite the market's recent signs of slowing down with demand. MSC has surpassed Maersk shipping line in early 2022 to become the world's largest container shipping company, which is still expanding. At the end of last week, two more super-large container ships were floated by the Chinese shipbuilder as MSC prepares to start operating a new class of ships. These will be the largest container ships ever.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group announced that it has floated two of the new ships under construction for MSC under a financing deal with the leasing companies of two Chinese banks. The vessels, MSC Irina and MSC Loreto, are reported by Chinese builders to be the largest tonnage and largest capacity vessels in the world. They estimate tonnage of more than 240,000 dwt, each vessel will have a capacity of 24,346 TEU. Containers can be stacked up to 25 layers on new ships.

These ships belong to a group of 6 ships being built for MSC. Like other super-large container ships with an overall length of 1,312 feet, but the repositioning on deck will increase the container capacity. For comparison, container ships of the same size being built for MSC at Jiangnan Shipbuilding are reported to have a capacity of 24,116 TEUs.

The float out took place on October 29. The shipyard reported that the ship was built for a docking cycle of 144 days. Work began on the two ships on November 29, 2021, with berth assembly commencing on June 7, 2022. They were first floated on August 10.

These ships are the first 24,000 TEU class container ships built by Yangzijiang. The shipyard highlights many design elements, all of which help improve ship performance and reduce fuel consumption and emissions. They report that the ships have a new type of “invisible” bulbous bow, large-diameter propellers, and energy-saving ducts, as well as adopting a low wind resistance exterior design. They also have a shaft generator and use air lubrication along the hull. Onboard a new system will improve fire safety.

Yangzijiang also reports that the ships have a high degree of finish when they are removed from the dock. The finished parts are the engine compartment and the cockpit, as well as the chamber block. Ballast, oil and water tanks are all sealed and inspected. Other elements including hatch covers and winches have also been commissioned while elements such as load testing will be completed at the harbour. No timeline has been reported for the ship's delivery.

New giants join MSC's rapid growth. Since equating to and then surpassing Maersk in early 2022, MSC has increased capacity by nearly 10% beyond 4.5 million TEU with 708 vessels according to Alphaliner's current calculations. MSC is said to have another 125 ships on order with an additional capacity of 1.7 million TEUs.

Alphaliner reports that the Swiss-based shipping company hasn't stopped yet. MSC is said to be entering the market for another new build order for a container ship with a capacity of 8,000 TEUs.

In addition, MSC is also actively developing the second-hand ship market. Alphaliner reports that MSC recently completed three acquisitions of smaller vessels with capacities between 2,500 and 6,000 TEU. Over the past two years, MSC has purchased a total of 250 container ships as calculated by Alphaliner.

Read more:

• MSC officially became the world's largest container shipping company
• MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) - The world's leading container shipping lines

Source: Phaata.com (According to Maritime-Executive)

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