Announced a few weeks ago, Oceanex is cutting of first steel of what
will become the largest Canadian flag container/roll on roll off
(Con/Ro) ship. This twenty knot, ice-class vessel, to be named the Oceanex Connaigra,
is custom designed for world-wide trade and will be 210 meters in
length with a deadweight carrying capacity of 19,500 metric tonnes.
Oceanex Connaigra is being built by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft mbH & Co. KG of Germany. The roro weather deck of the Oceanex Connaigra is
designed for a conventional lift-on/lift-off container ship operation
and is able to accommodate all relevant sizes of containers, including
the Oceanex high cube 53’ units – with a weather-deck load capacity of
11,000 metric tonnes of containers. Liftable ramps provide access to all
five roro decks which allow for the transportation of up to 95 tractor
trailers and 500 automobiles. Notably, the ship is uniquely designed
with a 40’ wide stern ramp to accommodate over dimensional loads that
can weigh several hundred tonnes.
Fednav announced the signing of a
long-term contract which provides for the transportation of nickel and
copper concentrates from Canadian Royalties’ Nunavik Nickel Project in
northern Quebec to customers in Europe as well as the import from
Europe of mine supplies and equipment.
As a result, Fednav will be placing of an order with Sumitomo Corporation and Universal Shipbuilding
Corporation, Japan, for the design and construction of an ice-breaking
bulk carrier with a design deadweight of 25,000 tonnes to service the
transportation contract referred to above. The Polar Class 4 vessel
will be built at Universal’s Tsu shipyard, and will be classed by Det
Norske Veritas. The scheduled delivery date is December 2013.
Fednav already owns and operates two of the world’s most powerful ice-breaking commercial vessels, the MV Arctic and the MV Umiak I.
Based in Montreal, the Fednav Group is the leading Canadian operator
in the deep-sea bulk market, operates year-round in ice-covered waters,
and has the world’s largest fleet of ice-class vessels
