Crowley Alaska Tankers announced on 18th April that it had completed the acquisition of three tankers from SeaRiver Maritime Inc., and is now chartering them back to SeaRiver under varying multi-year terms. The tankers are the 62,318gt/2014 built Liberty Bay, the 62,318gt/2015 built Eagle Bay and the 30,415gt/1997 built American Progress. The trio of ships have been renamed Washington, California and Oregon.

dship Carriers continues to expand its fleet and has jointly acquired two new F360-type vessels, in co-operation with HS Bereederungs GmbH & Co. KG. The first 9,616gt/2011 built vessel, now named Sophia, was transferred on 6th April in Port Everglades, USA. The second vessel, the 9,616gt/2011 built Josef, will be transferred to its new owners at an official ceremony in June. dship Carriers has taken both vessels under long-term charter. The company is increasing its lifting capacity with both vessels, Sophia and Josef, which are equipped with two cranes of 180t capacity each. The vessels can serve various different client needs. Their purchase is part of dship Carriers’ fleet expansion plan to increase its market presence.

Grimaldi Group’s new 62,134gt/2017 built Pure Car & Truck Carrier Grande New York was christened on 18th April in the Port of New York at FAPS Port Newark Auto Marine Terminal. Godmother of the vessel was Amanda Matilda Cuomo Cole, granddaughter of the former late New York Governor, Mario Cuomo and also niece of the current New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The ship is deployed on the Mediterranean-North America route. Second of a series of three sister units, the Grande New York has a length of 199.90m, a beam of 32.26m and a cruising speed of 19 knots. The vessel can carry 6,700 CEU (Car Equivalent Units) or alternatively 4,000 linear metres of rolling freight and 2,500 CEU. The Grande New York is equipped with four hoistable decks which make her an extremely flexible vessel, able to transport any type of rolling cargo (cars, vans, trucks, tractors, buses, excavators, etc.) up to 5.2m high. In addition, the vessel has two access ramps, a side ramp and a quarter stern ramp, the latter allowing the loading of freight units with a weight up to 150t. She is fitted with an electronically-controlled Man Diesel & Turbo main engine that allows the ship to comply with the new regulations for reducing NOx emissions, while the installed scrubber reduces sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions. On 17th April the Grimaldi Group received the Shipping Company of the Year award during the fourth edition of the North America Automotive Global Awards, held in Detroit at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel.

Hamburg Bulk Carriers of Germany has taken delivery of its last newbuilding from the 12-strong series, the 26,436gt/2018 built Venture Grace. The vessel is the final ship delivered by Qingshan Shipyard as the yard was closed down by CSC Group. The ship features the HBC 43 design, which is based on B. Delta 43 from designer Deltamarin. The first newbuilding from the series, the Venture Goal, which is fitted with an LNG dual-fuel ready engine, was delivered in 2015. The ship was followed by four more sister ships in the same year. Two ships were handed over in 2016. The remaining trio was delivered to the company last year. The three ships, Eurus Venture, Notos Venture and Zephyr Venture, were sold to a European trading house.