The Neapolitan shipping company has exercised the option to have China Merchants Heavy Industries Jiangsu deliver five additional pure car & truck carriers (PCTC).

As such, Grimaldi Group's order book for PCTCs that can be converted to sail on ammonia went from five to 15 in a manner of fewer than three months.

The vessels, co-designed by the Helsingør-based KNUD E. HANSEN, will offer 9,000 CEUs capacity. The Italian Shipping Register RINA will provide its Ammonia Ready class notation.

The shipowner says the newbuilds' fuel consumption will be even 50% lower than that of the previous generation. The new PCTCs will feature lithium batteries for hybrid operations, solar panels, onshore power supply connectors, air lubrication systems, and optimised hull designs.

The newbuildings, delivered between 2025 and 2027, will serve the Grimaldi Group's traffic between Europe, North Africa, and the Near and Far East Asia, with ten serving the Far East trade.

"With our recent orders for the construction of new PCTC vessels, we've strengthened our long-lasting and fruitful collaboration with China Merchant Industry Holdings. We've also reaffirmed our commitment to our customers, especially the world's leading car manufacturers, who continue to reward us with their trust. In this way, we'll continue to live up to their high expectations and meet their evolving needs with our offer of increasingly efficient and environmentally sustainable shipping services. Ten out of fifteen of our newly ordered car carriers will be deployed on the Far East trade and support the increasing development of China's automotive industry," Emanuele Grimaldi, Grimaldi Group's Managing Director, commented.

Hu Xianpu, President of China Merchant Industry (CMI) Holdings, added, "Grimaldi is committed to green shipping and will lead further the car shipping transportation field. The CMI Group will also take the green technology shipbuilding as a new growth point and cooperate with Grimaldi to achieve common long-term development."

Photo: KNUD E. HANSEN