SeaRoad of Tasmania today (209/21) has announced they have signed a contract with German ship yard Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) for a €100 million Euro for Ro/Ro vessel with dilivery in 2023. The new Ro/Ro vessel will join Searoad Mersey II and replace charter vessel MV Liekut to operate on Bass Strait between Melbourne and Devonport, scheduled for the last quarter of 2023. Construction on the 210-metre-long vessel will commence in late 2021 and the ship will feature the latest technology, including LNG power. The vessel will have a capacity of 4,227 lane metres and capability to transport heavy cargo with a unit weight of up to 100 tonnes. Mr Chas Kelly, CEO of Sea Road said “At over 40,000 tonnes gross, this will be the largest freight vessel in SeaRoad’s history, continuing to grow our capacity, and providing more options for local agriculture, aquaculture and manufacturing industries.“We’ve been very pleased with how our two current FSG-built vessels have performed from both an efficiency and operational perspective. We look forward to continuing our successful relationship with the German shipyard and their experienced staff.” Philipp Maracke, CEO of FSG, says the company was proud to have brought the business to Flensburg.“This order by a long-standing customer equals an important vote of confidence in both this new model, as well as our established expertise as an innovative German newbuilding yard. Our aim is to combine superior quality and superior life-cycle value. With this new vessel, FSG and SeaRoad will make an important contribution to sustainable shipping.”
TT-Line had signed a contract with FSG to build the new Spirit of Tasmania vessels, but due to financial difficulties FSG could not deliver the ships on time, so the order was mutually cancelled, and since awarded to finish RMC.
FSG has since undergone some restructuring in the ownership and after a period of not building any ships, they have started again on a Ro/Ro for another subsidiary of their own parent company, IVP Ship Invest. So this order is the first since the cancelled TT-Line builds and also Brittany ferries half finished ship getting cancelled. So things are looking up for FSG.
For more info: https://www.searoad.net/
Mitchell, Siem sold out of FSG on 1 September 2019 when his remaining minority holding was acquired by Tenor Holdings BV of the Netherlands, an investment company owned by Germany’s Lars Windhorst. Kristian Siem originally acquired FSG in September 2014.
Thanks Dale. You know, I was aware of this at the time but had forgotten completely. I’ll fix it when I get time. Cheers