Langh Ship buys container vessels
Langh Ship expands its capacity with the purchase of two 889 TEU container vessels from Germany.
Langh Ship Oy Ab has recently integrated container vessels Charlotta and Christina into its fleet. Charlotta was built in 2009 and Christina in 2010 at the Mawei shipyard in China. They are ice strengthened to ice class 1A and are therefore ideal for traffic on the Baltic Sea even in wintertime.
Christina and Charlotta are now time chartered to the French shipowner CMA CGM, which operates in ocean freight as well as in feeder and short sea shipping with container vessels. Christina is currently employed on the Gdynia-Tilbury line, while Charlotta is in liner trade on the Mediterranean Sea. Laura Langh-Lagerlöf, Managing Director of Langh Ship, says that the charter to CMA CGM made the purchase of the vessels possible.
“We are very happy to extend our collaboration with CMA CGM. Before this we already had two container vessels chartered to Containerships, which is owned by CMA CGM. The charter to CMA CGM for both new acquisitions was part of the package which made the investment possible”, she says.
Laura Langh-Lagerlöf states that the supply of modern, ice-strengthened container vessels in the size class of under 1000 TEU (20-foot equivalent units) is quite small on the second-hand market. After the financial crisis of 2008 the interest for new building of container vessels in this size segment has been significantly lower than before.
“It feels like a rather good timing for the purchase of these vessels. The second hand prices are on a fairly low level, but at the same time freight rates seem to be on a rise even for vessels of feeder size”, Laura Langh-Lagerlöf explains.
Langh Ship Operations Manager Eero Pajunen comments that the vessels have high technical standard and majority of the components are from European makers. The main engine maker is MaK and the auxiliaries are from MAN. The hydraulic folding hatch covers are designed by MacGregor.
The vessels fly the flag of Portugal with Madeira as home port. Langh Ship took over the crews on the vessels when the ownership was transferred.
From earlier Langh Ship has five vessels in its fleet. Three of the vessels, Laura, Marjatta and Hjördis, are equipped for transports of steel coils and carry the products of Outokumpu from northern Finland to continental Europe. Container vessels Linda and Aila are in container traffic for Containerships, which is owned by CMA CGM.
Langh Ship is one of the Langh companies, which also include scrubber manufacturer Langh Tech, steel carriage and bulk containers from Langh Cargo Solutions and Industrial and Ship Cleaning Services Hans Langh.
For further information, please contact:
Laura Langh-Lagerlöf, Managing Director of Langh Ship
laura.langh@langh.fi, +358 (0)40 583 8874
More pictures can be found in our material bank.