Japan’s Naikai Zosen has won an order for a ropax from compatriot ferry operator Marix Line in a rare passengership order since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 8,000-gt newbuilding will have capacity to carry 655 passengers and crew, 30 trucks and 44 cars. It will also have capacity to carry 246 containers.
Marix intends to use the newbuilding to replace the 5,000-gt Queen Coral 8 (built 1999).
Delivery is scheduled for December 2021. The vessel will trade on a fixed route between Kagoshima on the Japanese island of Kyushu to the island of Okinawa.
Marix said that the vessel is an upgrade on the Queen Coral and has been fitted with technology to reduce carbon emissions.
No price has been revealed for the deal.
Naikai now has seven ferries on order at its two Hiroshima-based yards in Innoshima and Setoda, filling its orderbook through to mid-2022.
However, in a less positive development for the shipbuilder, Naikai Zosen revealed it has been notified of a breach of patent claim filed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at the Tokyo District Court.
Mitsubishi is claiming ¥1.24bn ($11.3m) for the breach of patent. Naikai said that the claim relates to a ferry previously built at one of its shipyards without going in to detail.
Naikai said it did not believe that the construction of the vessel in anyway breached the Mitsubishi patent and there will be no impact on its current earnings period.
