The “BBC Bremen”, the eighth of a total of 15 MPP vessels in the Lakermax series ordered by the Leer-based Briese Group, has been christened on the River Weser.
Anitta Schumann, who has worked as Chartering Manager at the Bremen office of MPP market leader BBC Chartering since 2011, acted as godmother at Neustädter Hafen in Bremen. After wishing her “all the best and a safe voyage”, the traditional champagne bottle was smashed against the hull of the vessel, which had loaded plant components at BLG’s Shed 21.
Around 100 guests took part in the ceremony. Among them were Kai Stührenberg, State Councillor for Ports at Bremen’s Senator for Economics, Ports and Transformation, Joachim Bothe, Deputy Port Captain of Bremen, and Matthias Magnor, CEO of BLG Logistics. Following the naming ceremony, Magnus Deppe, deacon of the Bremen Seamen’s Mission, blessed the ship and its crew.
“I was delighted to be appointed godmother. This is a unique experience,” said godmother Schumann. “I’ve always referred to it as ‘our ship’ before. I feel very honored and am delighted to be even more closely associated with the ‘BBC Bremen’ from now on.”
Knut Voigt, Head of BBC Chartering’s Bremen office, added: “We have a special relationship with Bremen. BBC Chartering was founded here in the city in October 1997. The company moved its headquarters to Leer two years later and opened a new office here in 2002. All of us at BBC Chartering’s Bremen office are delighted to welcome and celebrate “our ship” here in Bremen.”
The “BBC Bremen” was handed over to Briese Schiffahrt as owner and BBC Chartering as operator in September 2025. The ship has completed several voyages since then. Before calling at Bremen, it called at Esbjerg in Denmark and Le Trait in France. After the loading call in Bremen, the ship will sail to Hamburg before setting course for the United States, where Galveston and Houston are on the itinerary.
Of the original order of fifteen LakerMax vessels, eleven have been delivered to date. Briese Schiffahrt has in the meantime placed a firm order for six more ships and has agreed options for a further six ships of this type. Deliveries are scheduled for 2028 and 2029.
Like her sister ships, the “BBC Bremen” is a multi-purpose triple-decker equipped with two Liebherr LS250 cranes with a lifting capacity of up to 500 tons. Her deck layout and the forward position of the bridge and accommodation provide 2,830 m² of free space on the weather deck. With 26,000 m³ of cargo space and 5,500 m² of covered usable area, the LakerMax vessel is “a true space miracle” according to the operator.
The series is part of a comprehensive fleet modernization of the Leer shipping group. XXX. However, Briese also relies on ships on the second-hand market to secure tonnage. Just a few days ago, for example, it was announced that two used MPP ships would be acquired together with the investor NRP – with whom the company has already worked on new bulker vessels.
Briese also has newbuildings in the “F500” segment with around 12,250 tdw; three of the eight ships ordered have now been put into service. These new bulkers have also been ordered and put into service in recent years – as have a dozen container ships and several Oteco 9,000 freighters for the carrier Briese Chartering. A new business division has been set up specifically for the bulk carrier business.
BBC Chartering currently operates an MPP fleet of 145 vessels with a total of more than 1.5 million tons. According to the broker Toepfer Transport, the carrier therefore has a market share of 9.76% for ships with a crane capacity of more than 100 tons. If the market analysis is based only on the (mostly somewhat younger) ships with at least 240 tons, the figure is as high as 14.07%.
