[030813.EN.SEA] MACS Takes Delivery 2nd MPP

MACS Maritime Carrier Shipping, the Hamburg-based multipurpose and breakbulk specialist best known for its liner service between Northern Europe and South Africa, this weekend received the 37,000 dwt mpp ship GOLDEN KAROO. The vessel is currently positioning on an off-schedule trip to phase into her owner's liner service in early September.

The GOLDEN KAROO is the second ship in a series of six vessels that MACS already ordered back in 2007 and 2008 for a reported price of USD 42 million per unit. The original orders were placed at Jiangsu Shenghua shipyard, which later ran into difficulties with the ships construction. 

Following several delays and complications, it was finally decided to complete the ships at Qingshan Shipyard of Wuhu. So far, it is not exactly clear whether all four remaining orders are still alive or whether some of the later ships have been canceled. At last two of the remaining ships have been confirmed as BRIGHT SKY and GREEN MOUNTAIN and are expected to be delivered in August and September, respectively.

The 199.95m GOLDEN KAROO and her sisters are fully geared with no fewer than six (!) cranes and they offer capacity for up to 2,000 teu. On the MACS's Europe to South Africa run, the ships however usually carry a broad mix of containers and other cargoes.

The GOLDEN KAROO is named after a semi-desert region of South Africa - a nod to the vessel's designated trade area and to MACS' thirty-year history shipping and close ties between Europe and the Cape Region.

Source : LV.