German-UK duo working on ship widening to back decarbonisation goals

June 20, 2023, by Fatima Bahtić

UK company focused on vessel management, design, construction and repair Newport Shipping and German maritime service company NSB Group have joined forces to offer ship conversion widening to support decarbonisation goals.

The companies have revealed that they will work strategically together to develop their ship widening proposition. NSB Group will work on the design with increased container capacity by up to 30% by implementing its widening concept.

The concept is about widening a container vessel in breadth while the existing main engine remains the same. Furthermore, other options are for bulbous bow optimisation and propeller retrofit.

During the widening process, the amount of reefer plugs can be increased to get more flexibility in the stowage plan.

NSB Group has already carried out three ship-widening projects. The vessels were widened at Huarun Dadong Dockyard (HRDD) shipyard in China. The container intake grew from 4.872 TEU and 560 reefer plugs to 6.296 TEU and 1.131 reefer plugs. The three ships are in service for Swiss shipping giant MSC.

According to the partners, this concept will help shipowners expand the lifetime of their fleet and to meet the international decarbonization reduction regulations. This means that the ships will be able to meet the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Energy Efficiency Design Index for Existing Ships (EEXI) and CII regulations.

“Working with the Germany-based ship management group will provide opportunities for both companies allowing them to cater for a wider range of customers,” Ingmar Loges, Managing Director (Hamburg), Newport Shipping said.

“With this design existing vessels can reach a better environmental rating in terms of EEXI and CII. The increased container capacity is generating higher earning potential along with a higher asset value,” Markus Thewes, Chief Commercial Officer of NSB Group commented.

Newport Shipping will also look to obtain conditional funding approval for the retrofit program