On May 7, Hengli Heavy Industries held naming ceremony for three newly built 82,000 DWT bulk carriers. The three vessels were named “ITHAKIⅠ”, “ELATOS” and “PUNTA DEL CHILENO” respectively. This is the first time that Hengli Heavy Industries held a naming ceremony for three vessels at the same time.
It is understood that among the three vessels, “ITHAKIⅠ” started construction the earliest and was delivered on the day of the naming ceremony 24 days ahead of schedule. The other two vessels have now entered the commissioning phase, making final preparations for upcoming sea trials and delivery.
According to previous reports, the cooperation between Laskaridis Maritime (hereinafter referred to as “LM”) and Hengli Heavy Industries started in May 2023. At that time, the two parties signed a shipbuilding contract for four 82,000 DWT Kamsarmax bulk carriers, which was the first overseas order signed by Hengli Heavy Industries since it officially resumed its shipbuilding business. In April 2024, LM returned to Hengli Heavy Industries and placed an additional order for six 82,000 DWT Kamsarmax bulk carriers, bringing the number of Kamsarmax bulk carrier orders placed by LM with Hengli Heavy Industries to ten.
LM is a famous Greek shipping company and one of the first overseas shipowners of Hengli Heavy Industries. This is the first batch of vessels built by Hengli Heavy Industries for LM. This series of vessels has the remarkable characteristics of “green, environmentally friendly, energy-saving and safe”. It is the mainstream bulk carrier type in the ocean shipping market and the latest generation of vessels that meet the requirements of Tier III and EEDI phase 3 of the International Maritime Organization.
Chen Jianhua, Chairman of Hengli Heavy Industries, said that the delivery of the first LM vessel will be used as an opportunity to successfully complete the construction of new vessels at the fastest speed and with the highest quality. In the future, the construction of high-tech, high-difficulty, high-value-added green vessels will be accelerated, and look forward to deepening cooperation with LM in more areas, achieving mutual benefit and win-win results and jointly making greater contributions to the green and low-carbon development of global shipping.