SSW launches new feeder design

The German shipbuilder Schichau-Seebeck Werft (SSW) is setting new international standards in feeder shipping with the launch of the 152 metre-long “Anne Sibum” at its Bremerhaven facility. This is the first ship of the new “SSW Super 1000” series to come off the slipway and the design has already come to be seen as the new standard for all feeder freighters, with a container capacity of 1,036 TEU.

In tandem with the launch, the Sibum Shipping Line based in Haren Ems, Germany, ordered a further two new ships, in addition to the two sister ships of the of the “SSW Super 1000” series, and placed options for two more. Worldwide 18 units of this new feeder will soon be under construction.

With an unusually high loading capacity and loading flexibility as well as a low fuel consumption, the SSW Super 1000 is Bremerhaven?s solution to the greatest challenges currently facing the shipping companies. “We have developed this type of ship with an eye on the extremely rapid growth in the amount of containers in feeder traffic, as well as on the constantly rising energy prices”, said the shipyard?s boss Karl-Heinz Jahncke. Experts estimate that the total worldwide requirement for similar feeder ships in the years ahead will be for around 1,500 ships.

The design for the “Anne Sibum” and her sister ships arose from the close co-operation of the shipyard with the ship?s future owner Bernd Sibum and with Vuyk Engineering of Groningen. Based on the shipping company?s experience and its requirements, SSW and Vuyk have developed a type of ship which, whilst having broadly similar dimensions to those of conventional feeder ships, can nonetheless carry significantly more containers.

The SSW Super 1000 is able to transport around 740 TEUs each loaded with 14 tonnes of cargo making this design?s performance significantly better than that of larger conventional feeder ships. After making many hydrodynamic calculations and model tank tests, SSW and Vuyk have managed to optimise the ship?s lines enabling a top speed of 19.3 knots to be achieved using a small and economical 9,000kW main engine.

The “Anne Sibum” is the first of a preliminary order of two newbuildings which Sibum ordered from SSW once the development work was completed. After the shipping company had again satisfied itself of the high quality of the SSW product before the launch, it signed a contract with the yard for a further two ships plus another two options for the SSW Super 1000 type, all of which should be delivered by the end of 2009.