A revolutionary new option to scrapping for younger panamax containerships deemed too small for a tradelane involves widening the vessel rather than adding length.
The enlargement operation of MSC Geneva was held at the Chinese shipyard Huarun Dadong (HRDD). The ship was cut in half, lengthwise, and he was added to a central section three rows of containers.
It included transverse beams to ensure the structural integrity of the hull hence the structure was further strengthened.
As a result, the width of the MSC Geneva went from 32.2 to 40 meters and its carrying capacity increased by 1280 slots for 6152 TEU. Of course, the tonnage also increased. . The ship’s deadweight consequently increased to 82,000 tonnes from 63,638 tonnes.
Enlargement and therefore increased capacity can be a solution to restore lost competitiveness to container type recent Panamax (MSC Geneva is 2006), increasing the load capacity and energy efficiency.
The rebuilt ship has now been fixed on a new three-year time charter with the Geneva-based carrier and will initially be deployed on MSC’s new Asia-west coast South America (Andes) service according to Alphaliner.
The decision by its German KG owners and NSB managing team to widen the “Geneva” was a proactive move to adapt the ship to new markets, and to meet the requirement of carriers that require chartered-in tonnage to be the maximum size possible for a trade that is continually evolving.
According to maritime consultant Alphaliner, the procedure, on the 2006-built “MSC Geneva”, was a major engineering operation that had not previously been performed on large merchant ships.