Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Mediterranean Shipping Company Container Fleet Gets an Overhaul to Optimise Cargo Carrying Capacity

Finnish Group Sets to Work on Thirty One MSC Vessels
Shipping News Feature
FINLAND – SWITZERLAND – Marine engineering group MacGregor has received orders to revise the container carrying capabilities of 31 vessels from the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) across six different ship series. The work is designed to optimise ships' cargo system productivity and earning potential. The orders were booked into group owner Cargotec's third and fourth quarter 2017 order intakes and deliveries planned for completion towards the end of 2018.

MacGregor’s have an interesting pedigree from the founder brothers work in the UK with the inception of steel hatches in the 1920’s predated by work on Amundsen’s polar ship Fram by Pusnes in Norway and latterly Hatlapa winches in Germany, all names still surviving under the Cargotec umbrella brand. Leif Byström, Senior Vice President, Cargo Handling, MacGregor, commented:

"Container vessels are an integral part of the whole transportation value chain, maximising their cargo system flexibility makes optimum use of available cargo space with any given cargo mix. This ensures that the greatest payload can be carried. Filling empty slots increases revenue for ship owners and operators and reduces emissions per transported cargo unit."

With a fleet of 490 container vessels, privately-owned MSC is world's second largest container shipping firm, in terms of capacity. For many years MSC and MacGregor have enjoyed a long and cooperative relationship and numerous MSC vessels are equipped with MacGregor solutions. Giuseppe Gargiulo, Head of Department, New Building, Dry Dock and Conversions, MSC, noted:

"MacGregor's expertise in cargo systems and its continuous development of new innovations is highly appreciated. Its solutions greatly improve our ability to compete in the current business environment."

Upgrade work on the vessels will be carried out under a MacGregor Cargo Boost service, part of its PlusPartner concept, which is designed to improve the earning potential of existing containerships. The upgrades include an individual plan for each vessel, with a focus on improving earning potential and efficiency. Atte Virta, Naval Architect, Cargo Handling, MacGregor, said:

"Over the years we have developed a close collaboration and a good understanding of MSC's cargo handling needs. Through this work, together we have identified new ways to increase MSC's cargo carrying capacity and competitiveness; critical in today's challenging shipping market.

"Each cargo system upgrade has been carefully designed with MSC. The vessel type and their service deployment have been considered in detail. This ensures optimum cargo system flexibility and efficiency, which maximises the vessels' earning potential and return on investment."

Photo: MacGregor cell guide system in place.