New capacity record holders are delivered: the ‘megamax’ container ships MSC TESSA and MSC IRINA. The world’s largest ocean carrier, the Geneva-based MSC, last week took delivery of the world’s largest new container ship – twice over!
MSC took delivery for the first time of the MSC TESSA, a state-of-the-art ‘megamax’ type. The new giant ship boasts an entry of 24,116 teu, which is 112 teu more than Evergreen Marine’s previous ‘Apex’ class record holders.
Just a few days later, MSC took delivery of the 24,346 teu MSC IRINA, which immediately dethroned her previous fleet mate to become the new flagship of the world fleet.
The initial record ship MSC TESSA is the first of eight ‘Hudong 24100’ type sisters that the Swiss-Italian shipping line will take delivery from China’s state-owned group CSSC before the end of the year.
Four of the ships will be built by Jiangnan Changxing Shipyard, which is part of Hudong, while the other four will originate from Jiangnan (Group) Shipyard, another CSSC shipyard.
Five of the eight ships, including MSC TESSA, will be owned by MSC. Three others will be financed through BoComm Leasing, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank of Communications of China.
The second record-breaking vessel, MSC IRINA, is the first of six ‘YZJ MGX-24’ type sisters that MSC will receive from the private sector Yangzijiang Shipbuilding. The YZJ sextet will comprise units owned by MSC, units owned by BoComm and chartered ships from Seaspan. Both the ‘Tessa’ and ‘Irina’ class are new designs, developed in-house by Hudong Zhonghua and Yangzijiang respectively. The 14 CSSC and YZJ ‘megamax’ ships are part of an MSC newbuild program that includes more than 130 ships in various size classes.
Together, they represent 1.80 Mteu of new-build capacity, comparable to the size of Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest shipping vessel. In addition to the 14 ships from China (8 x CSSC and 6 x YZJ), MSC is also scheduled to take delivery of a series of four megamax sister ships from Japan’s Nihon Shipyard Group. These will be built at the Imabari Group yards and at JMU.
Unlike the Chinese-built tonnage, the Japanese-built MSC quartet will come with LNG propulsion.
Unlike the conventionally powered ‘megamaxes’ due this year, with some units possibly reaching 2024, the LNG sisters will only hit the market in 2025.
As for the two record-breaking boats from last week, it’s fair to say that the boats are “different” but similar:
Both MSC TESSA and MSC IRINA are just under 400m long. The ship designs follow the standard ‘MGX24’ footprint, which is 24 container bays long and 24 container bays wide.
In terms of bay layout, the YZJ type comes with a more forward deck and a 6/14/4 bay configuration, compared to 7/13/4 for CSSC units. Both designs feature nearly vertical stems, so the Hudong design has a more pronounced bulbous arc, compared to the more “mixed” bulbousness of the YZJ type.
The scrubber-equipped megamax ships are conventionally powered by a WinGD – 11 X92 main engine, offering a power rating of approximately 71,000 kW.
However, her engines have been downsized by about 10,000 kW, giving the ships a service speed of 22.5 knots.
Both designs have around 22,000 kW of auxiliary power, and can supply electricity to around 2,000 reefer containers.
MSC is the airline that will absorb by far the most new build capacity this year. However, it is not the only shipping line that will receive ‘megamax’ tonnage in 2023. Others include OOCL, which will receive the 24,188 teu OOCL ESPAÑA from NACKS.
Later in the year, Hapag-Lloyd will take delivery of the 23,666 teu LNG-powered ship BERLIN EXPRESS and other DSME siblings, while ONE will take delivery of the conventionally powered 24,000 teu ship ONE INFINITY, as well as other ships of this type from Shipyard Nihon from Japan.
Source: Alphaliner
