The Grimaldi Group is set to raise its newbuilding programme to 19 ropax, ro-ro and pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) vessels.
Italy’s largest shipowner will shortly place orders for two new ice-class ropax vessels, managing director Emanuele Grimaldi told the Euromed convention in Sicily.
Talks with three shipyards that are interested in building the duo are “very advanced”, he said.
The pending order for two Superstar-class ships of 5,800 lane metres and 1,000 passengers is expected to be penned within a month.
The newbuildings will operate for Grimaldi Group’s subsidiary Finnlines in the Baltic Sea.
Grimaldi confirmed that the Naples-based shipowner is also working on a zero-emissions ropax vessel designed to operate in the Mediterranean.
The ships on the drawing board will be larger ropaxes with an extra 1,000 lane metres and have been designed to operate with lower fuel consumption and increased loading capacity.
Finding a yard
“We’re not in the market for those vessels yet,” Grimaldi said. “But with Superstar vessels, it’s only a question of finding a yard with which we will conclude the deal.”
The new Mediterranean design will deliver zero emissions in port.
This reflects Grimaldi’s belief that countries bordering the Mediterranean will eventually reduce permissible sulphur content to 0.1%, which is the maximum allowed in the Baltic and North seas.
The new Mediterranean designs could join the 63,000-gt flagships Cruise Roma and Cruise Barcelona (both built 2008), which have this year been lengthened by 29 metres and refurbished by Fincantieri in Palermo.
The order will add to an already substantial newbuilding programme.
The owner currently has 17 vessels on order comprising five PCTCs under construction at Yangfan Group and and 12 ro-ro vessels being built at CSC Jinling Shipyard for delivery in 2020 and 2021.
Grimaldi Group owns 116 of the 130 ships in its fleet, which are operated by subsidiaries including Grimaldi Euromed, Atlantic Container Line, Minoan Lines and Finnlines.
