Fire-Damaged Box Ship Returns as Eco-Vessel

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday July 22, 2014

A Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) chartered vessel has returned to service as an eco-vessel two years after a fire that killed three of its crew members, industry news site Seatrade Global reports.

MSC Flaminia was repaired and fitted with a new bulbous bow and propeller at Daewoo shipyard in Mangalia, Romania.

The ship's owner, Reederei NSB said in a statement that it "offers its charterer MSC a vessel which still bears the name MSC Flaminia but is fundamentally optimised for the challenges of the current shipping market."

The retrofits will reduce fuel consumption by 12 percent, according to Reederei NSB analyses.

"We also use MSC Flaminia to demonstrate which opportunities eco-design offers: namely that older ships can compete with the efficiency of modern vessels," said Reederei NSB Vice President Bozidar Petrovic.

"Of course we offer this package and our know-how to other shipping companies as well."

The July 2012 fire on the MSC Flaminia occurred while the 6,732 twenty-foot-equivalent (TEU) vessel was traveling from the U.S. port of Charleston to Antwerp, Belgium, leading to questions about ports of refuge after the damaged ship had difficulty finding a place where it could be brought to port, according to news site Port Technology International.