The Haren-based shipping company and its equity financier are having a series of 12,000-ton vessels built by Jiangsu Soho Marine Heavy.
The HS Schiffahrts Group in Haren and the ship investor Mare Trust AG based in Oldenburg are planning to jointly launch up to ten new heavy-lift project carriers. As the partners jointly announced on the Mare Trust website, four units of the so-called “Eco-MPP-Freighter 12,500 dwt” with their own cranes have been firmly ordered from the Chinese shipyard Jiangsu Soho Marine Heavy Industry. There are also options for a total of six more (“+2 +2 +2”). Deliveries are scheduled to take place between August 2027 and February 2029. Neither HS Group nor Mare Trust AG were willing to provide further details on the project when asked.
If all options are realized, the investment volume for the series is likely to be in the mid three-digit million range. The Hamburg shipbroker Toepfer Transport puts the current newbuilding price for MPP freighters with a deadweight tonnage of 12,500 tdw at around $30 million. Mare Trust AG is to provide up to € 100 million as an equity investor, as can be seen from the announcement for the project entitled “New Investments 04”. The AG, headed by banker Friedhelm Onkes as CEO and tax consultant Hermann Neemann as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, now has a stake in 65 ships – mainly container, dry cargo and MPP ships under 30,000 dwt – and has equity capital of € 137 million.
The planned eco-MPP freighters are likely to generate a great deal of interest in the project shipping industry in view of the large need for renewal. Charter demand for newbuildings with similar key data picked up significantly this spring with a high number of period contracts at well over $19,000/day in some cases for employment starting in 2026 or 2027.
For the HS Group as a tramp shipping company, the project with up to ten vessels represents a major expansion step in the heavy-lift segment. The current fleet list in the MPP segment currently includes five Damen Combifreighters with load capacities of between 8,200 and 13,500 dwt. According to the website, the managed fleet across all segments (container feeder, coaster, bulk, MPP) comprises 36 ships.
