CENARGO International, the British-based private shipowning group, has taken delivery of its largest newbuilding to date, the 162,000 deadweight tonne Capesize bulk carrier Merchant Prestige.
The vessel will be joined in June by a sister vessel, Merchant Paramount.
Together they represent the addition of almost one-third of a million deadweight tonnes to the much-depleted British merchant fleet.
Merchant Prestige, built by Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea at a cost of US$45 million, has been chartered for two years by the Japanese shipping company Mitsui-OSK for $22,000 per day.
Its first voyage will be from Hay Point and Gladstone, Australia, to Rotterdam with a full cargo of coking coal.
According to Cenargo's chairman and owner Michael Hendry, the two new ships have been built to the highest specification.