Eimskip and Royal Arctic Line Order Three Fuel Efficient Newbuilds

Eimskip and Royal Arctic Line have ordered three new bunker-saving 2,150 TEU container vessels.

Eimskip LTD. (Eimskip) today announced that it has signed a contract with China Shipbuilding Trading Company Limited (CSTC) and Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard Co. Ltd. (Guangzhou Wenchong) for the construction of two bunker-saving 2,150 TEU container vessels, while Royal Arctic Line A/S (Royal Arctic Line) has also signed a contract of building one vessel of the same type.

Eimskip says the vessels, equipped to sail the North Atlantic, will improve efficiency, operation costs, and service reliability compared current vessels in the trade due to their size, and will consume less fuel per container unit compared to older vessels.

The vessels will also feature built-in exhaust gas scrubber systems, notes the company.

"We are pleased that we have finalised a contract for the building of the new vessels. This is an important step in the renewal and development of Eimskip's future vessel fleet," said Gylfi Sigfússon, President and CEO of Eimskip.

"We have also reached an agreement with Royal Arctic Line, built on our long-lasting relationship and cooperation since 1993. The port developments in Nuuk, Reykjavík and Tórshavn will enable larger vessels to serve in our market area."

The Eimskip vessels are priced at approximately $32 million each Eimskip vessel, and are slated for delivery in 2019 - subject to financing.

Eimskip and Royal Arctic Line are also said to have signed a framework agreement for potential cooperation of sharing capacity, which is subject to approval of relevant competition authorities.

"The agreement for the cooperation, subject to approval from relevant authorities, is a very important step to connect Greenland to the global markets. It creates opportunities for our export customers, allowing goods to be further refined in Greenland before transporting them directly to destinations all over the world in a more efficient way," said Verner Hammeken, CEO of Royal Arctic Line.

"Customers can also select transportation directly from new market areas instead of having to go only through Denmark. With this, we are looking at a future with more options, higher efficiency and making it easy to do business with Greenland."