Elbdeich is going from strength to strength these days: with the “Elbbridge” and the “Elbtower”, two more newbuildings have been taken over from China.
These are two sister ships, each with a capacity of 1,380 TEU. The “SMB 1400” vessels were built by the Chinese shipyard Penglai Zhongbai Jinglu Shipyard.
The company, which is part of the USC Barnkrug shipping group, ordered the ships three years ago at a price of US$30m, reports the Alpahliner shipping service. Both feeders will be chartered for five years from Ellerman City Liners, a niche provider in global container transportation.
Elbdeich and Nordic Hamburg have ordered a total of ten SMB 1400 vessels from the Jinglu shipyard. A further eight ships of this type will be built for Regional Container Lines (RCL) from Thailand.
The hingeless type is 170 metres long and just under 27 metres (10 rows) wide. Typical for a feeder vessel with a northern Europe trade lane, it has ice class 1A, hydraulically folding hatch covers and space for oversized 45-foot intermodal containers.
Elbdeich still waiting for five ships
The “Elbbridge” and the “Elbtower” are newbuildings 4 and 5 for Elbdeich. The missing “Elbinsel” is also due to be delivered this year. The other ships have been chartered by Unifeeder and Tailwind Shipping Lines. The shipping company Nordic Hamburg is placing its four units with BG Freight Line.
In addition to the six 1,380 TEU feeders, the shipping company managed by Jens Moje has also ordered four smaller newbuildings, each with 1,250 TEU, from the Chinese Wenchong shipyard (GWS). According to previous information, these are ships with dual-fuel engines that will initially run on LNG, but will also be able to run on methanol in the future. The ships will be delivered from the beginning of 2026 and all four newbuilds have reportedly also been contracted by Unifeeder.
