Triple Decker Billed as “Heavyweight Champion of Project Cargo Transportation”
BBC Chartering has taken delivery of the first in a series of 15 new “LakerMax” multipurpose triple deckers, a new generation vessel type the carrier has billed as a “heavyweight champion of project cargo transportation”.
MV BBC LEER – named after the town where BBC Chartering is headquartered – was due to be dispatched at the end of May by China’s Taizhou Sanfu Heavy Industry to its owners and BBC Chartering’s parent company, Briese Group. The ship will enter a long-time charter with BBC Chartering for worldwide trading.
The remaining 14 ships are slated for delivery by 2026.
“Whilst the global multipurpose fleet is ageing, this investment by the Briese Group is a clear commitment to renewing our fleet with modern tonnage and maintaining our market position,” said Ulrich Ulrichs, CEO of BBC Chartering.
The LakerMax series of 13,000 DWT heavy-lift vessels are equipped with two Liebherr LS 250 shipboard cranes located portside to provide a lifting capacity of up to 500 metric tons.
The bridge and crew quarters are positioned at the front of the vessels.
“This set-up creates an impressive, unobstructed weather deck of more than 2,800 square meters. That’s 30 percent more than the previous F500 vessel class and 90 percent more than the classic EF type,” Ulrichs said in a video to present the LakerMax series.
The two cargo holds are box-shaped and offer an area for almost 26,000 cubic meters of cargo on a covered floor space of nearly 5,000 square meters. The main large triple-deck cargo hold, meanwhile, can house cargo units under deck up to 104.3 meters long and 18.2 meters wide. The vessels are powered by a 6,000 kW MAN B&W main engine to allow for eco-friendly speeds of between 13 and 15 knots.
“The capacity on offer makes it one of the most efficient multipurpose heavy-lift vessels in the market,” Ulrichs said.
The new series will join BBC Chartering’s existing fleet of more than 140 multipurpose heavy-lift vessels, which range from 4,000 to 40,000 DWT and boast lifting capacities of up to 800 metric tons.
BBC Chartering is a regular exhibitor at Breakbulk events. The next event in the calendar is Breakbulk Americas 2024 on 15-17 October at the George R Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.
PHOTO CREDIT: BBC Chartering
