NCSA exercises options for two RoCons for U.S. East Coast service

The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA) has exercised its option to build a further two Roll-On/Roll-Off-Container (Ro-Con) ships with shipbbuilder Hyundai MIPO of South Korea. NSCSA signed a shipbuilding agreement on March 6, 2011 with Hyundai MIPO to build a firm four RoCon vessels and two optional RoCon vessels with the same specifications for a total cost amounting to 1,543 Million Saudi Riyals.(See earlier story).

The 220 m ships, which will be classed by Lloyd’s Register, will have a beam of 32.2 m, draft of 9.5 m, container capacity of 364 TEU and deck area of 24,000 square meters. The main engine will have an MCR of 12,500 kW, providing the ship with enough power for a service speed of more than 17 knots.NSCSA signed a Murabaha Financing Agreement on June 22, 2011 which will be utilized to finance 80% of the cost of constructing the two RoCon vessels and the remaining 20 percent will be financed by NSCSA.

The first vessel of the six, will be delivered in December 2012; the others will follow at three month intervals. On delivery, the vessels will replace NSCSA’s current RoRo ships that are operating as a liner service between the U.S East Coast to the Middle East (Red Sea-Arabian Gulf) and to the Indian Sub-Continent (ISC) via Europe.

These vessels are specialized in carrying general and project cargo and several other types of RoRo cargo. Equipped with heavy lift cranes, they also have the capacity of carrying containers in the designed area onboard the vessel. The deadweight of each vessel is apprx. 26,000 tons. The vessels are  smaller than those they will replace but provide more cargo lifting capabilities with less fuel oil consumption.

September 13, 2011