Ferus Smit to build Ecobox XL pair for Symphony

Dutch shipbuilder Ferus Smit has received a contract from compatriot shipping company Symphony Shipping for the construction of two Ecobox XL project cargo vessels.

The newbuilds are planned for delivery in late 2022 / early 2023.

As informed, the ships will be an evolution of the ‘Ecobox’ and ‘Ecobox DP’ series that the yard already delivered to Symphony over the recent years.

The duo started their cooperation back in 2013 with the joint development and construction of six Ecobox ships. This first series comprised a 10,500 dwt geared cargo vessel with one single fully box-shaped hold. The ships have the open top notation, with a deckhouse placed forward to give shelter to the hold and deck cargoes against severe weather conditions, and enabling oversize deck cargoes to be loaded over the stern.

Later, a dynamic positioning version of the design was also developed as ‘Ecobox DP’, of which two more ships were delivered to Symphony.

According to Ferus Smit, the new Ecobox XL design will have its focus on loading extra-long items, such as windmill blades, while at the same time still maintaining its capabilities as a normal general cargoship.

Specifically, the newbuilds will feature the Ferus Smit bulbless Canoe type bow, designed to reduce fuel costs and better sustained speed with excellent sea keeping behavior in harsh weather and sea state conditions.

The modifications in design and systems are also aimed to further enhance the vessel’s green performance with a reduction of the EEDI-score to a new class reference standard.

Therefore, the original Ecobox design will be lengthened by more than 21 metres, extending the box shaped hold to more than 100 metre length on the tanktop, and 112 metres above the movable tweendeck level.

The new ships will be 18 metres wide, enhancing its cargo deadweight further, and maintaining flexibility of loading while keeping a very low resistance on both flat water and in waves.

Each unit will have a maximum loading capacity of 12,500 dwt.

Fuel consumption will be further reduced by integrating a novel ORC waste heat generator in the propulsion system. This system consists of a 3,300 kW main engine driving a nozzled controllable pitch propeller running in fully automatic combinator mode.

The fuel system will also be suitable for bio blend fuels, Ferus Smit said.