Shortsea newbuilds ordered at Indian shipyard

Chowgule will build the 8.500 dwt vessels, developed in cooperation with Dutch designer Conoship, at its new shipyard in Mangalore, which will start production in spring 2024.

The family-owned and run Boomsma with a 10-strong fleet partnered with Leonhardt& Blumberg at an early stage of the project development, which will now see the Hamburg-based feeder and mid-size product tanker specialist established in 2017 with the merger between Leonhardt& Blumberg and Buss Shipping, diversify into the shortsea dry cargo sector.

“The shortsea shipping space is where most of the innovation takes place in order to make vessels more energy efficient and to achieve much less emissions of – for instance – CO₂. While entering this market, our group was to be an early adopter of these new technologies and therefore wanted to invest in a cutting-edge vessel type,” said TorbenKoelln of Leonhardt& Blumberg.

From autumn 2025 onwards, the vessels will be delivered either to Boomsma Shipping or Leonhardt& Blumberg. Once in service, the vessels will all be commercially operated in a pool by NewTide Chartering in Rotterdam, part of the Boomsma group.

The newbuilds will come with optimised diesel-electric propulsion, ready for lifetime expansion and future fuels. They will require 50%–60% less propulsion energy compared to existing tonnage and be prepared for wind-assisted propulsion, carbon capture and emission-free operation on batteries.

JR Shipbrokers & Consultants, part of JR Shipping Group, acted as matchmaker and newbuilding broker.