The Grimaldi Group of Italy has inked an order with a Chinese yard for two more pure car/truck carriers (PCTC).
The Naples-based shipowner has exercised options with China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) for a pair of 9,000-ceu vessels with delivery in 2026.
The options take Grimaldi’s total orderbook with CSSC to seven vessels worth $630m.
The initial order for five ammonia-ready PCTC vessels was signed in January with CSSC-subsidiaries Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) and China Shipbuilding Trading Company (CSTC), with deliveries starting in 2025.
Grimaldi Group currently has 17 of the ammonia-ready car carriers under construction.
The company has orders for ten similar units on order at China Merchants Heavy Industry Jiangsu, also known as CMHI Haimen. Grimaldi initially ordered five vessels at CMHI in October 2022 and doubled the order for another five in January this year.
The PCTCs will be deployed on services connecting Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and the Far East.
“Investing in the design and construction of such large, eco-friendly vessels as these new ammonia-ready PCTC units means making a concrete contribution both to the development of international trade and to the ecological transition in the shipping sector,” said managing director Emanuele Grimaldi.
“Our fleet modernisation project is extremely ambitious, but this is the kind of initiative that our sector needs to tackle decarbonisation, one of the most urgent and demanding challenges of our time.”
Ammonia ready
Grimaldi’s newbuildings will be equipped with electronic engines to lower consumption and emission abatement systems, as well as cold ironing with shoreside supply of electricity.
The vessels will have an ammonia-ready notation provided by Italian classification society RINA.
The ships are designed to transport electric and fossil fuel vehicles as well as other types of heavy rolling freight up to 250 tons.
Grimaldi currently has 26 ships under construction, including the 17 PCTCs that are estimated to be costing over $1.5bn.
Grimaldi is also building five G5-class multipurpose ro-ros, two GG5G-class hybrid ro-ro vessels and two Superstar-class ropax ships for its Finnlines subsidiary.
