KCC seals deal for 3 wind-assisted CABU III ships

Norway-based shipowner Klaveness Combination Carriers ASA (KCC) has concluded the shipbuilding contract for the construction of three third-generation CABU vessels with Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. and Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding Co.

The contract is in line with the Letter of Intent (LOI) announced on 23 May 2023.

Compared to the existing CABU vessels built 2001-2002 that the newbuilds will replace, the vessels are estimated to have 25-30% higher earnings capacity and around 35% lower CO2 emissions due to increased cargo carrying capacity and substantially lower fuel consumption.

As disclosed earlier, the new vessels will have around 10% higher cargo carrying capacity and the fuel consumption is estimated to be 30% lower than the first generation CABUs through an optimized design and installation of several energy efficiency measures partly tested out on KCC’s current fleet over the recent years.

Furthermore, KCC targets to install wind-assisted propulsion on the CABU III newbuilds, improving efficiency even further. The vessels will as well be prepared for a later time- and cost-effective conversion to burning zero-emission fuels. 

“The newbuilds are key for KCC to position the Company for expected growing caustic soda import volumes to Australia, and for meeting its ambitious targets of an approximately 45% reduction in its carbon intensity within 2030 relative to its actual 2018 performance,” KCC said announcing the signing.

The vessels are estimated to be delivered in Q1-Q3 2026 and the equity portion of the investment is fully funded, partly through a private placement of NOK 550 million in May 2023.