French liner operator Marfret has forked out $30m for a 1,900-teu newbuilding originally ordered by Germany’s Reederei Nord.
The Marseille-based carrier has acquired the third hull in a series of four Bangkokmax designs under construction in China.
The ceremony for the cutting of the first steel plate took place on 26 March at Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard, the company said.
The vessel is scheduled to enter service with Marfret by the end of the first quarter of 2025, it added.
The acquisition follows the sale by Marfret of two older container vessels in June last year.
One of those was the 1,740-teu Durande (built 2003), since renamed Med Cesme, which was sold to MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company for $9m.
Marfret’s latest acquisition will also be named Durande but will have 50% more fuel economy than its predecessor, which bore the same name, the carrier said.
Relationship
Nord placed an order for two 1,900-teu vessels with CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding, previously Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard, in April 2023. That deal included two options.
But the deal is not the first time Marfret, led by managing director Guillaume Vidil, has bought a vessel from the German shipowner.
In May 2021, Nord sold the 2,500-teu Nordmaple (built 2018) to Marfret for a reported $32.5m.
That vessel has been renamed Marius and operates in Marfret’s services from Europe to the US East Coast.
Since then, Marfret has only bought one other secondhand container ship, the 1,691-teu Marfret Guyane (built 2007).
That vessel was acquired in June 2022 and operates as one of four container ships in Marfret’s seven-strong fleet.
The company also operates three ro-ro vessels.
That includes the Ferrymar (built 2023), a 1,200-lane meter Chinese-built ro-ro that Marfret deploys in the Caribbean.
The Ferrymar service connects the ports of Marigot, Gustavia, Pointe-a-Pitre and Fort-de-France, which Marfret argues helps to strengthen economic ties between the four Caribbean islands.
Marfret also offers container and ro-ro services in the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, Caribbean, South America and South Pacific.
