First LakerMax, BBC Leer, makes its first call in Germany

Following its delivery earlier this year, BBC Leer, the first in the series of 15 LakerMax multipurpose vessels has made its first call at a German port. The 13,000-dwt triple-decker discharged a full load of blades from Mexico. 

Following its delivery from Taizhou Sanfu Heavy Industry in China, the ship embarked on its inaugural journey from Nantong, China to Contrecoeur, Canada. It then proceeded to Corpus Christi in the United States before sailing to Altamira, where it loaded windmill blades to be unloaded in Cuxhaven. After making stops at several ports in the Baltic, the ship is scheduled to dock in Hamburg in early October before continuing its journey to the Middle East via the Cape of Good Hope.

“After having talked so much about this new vessel generation, this welcome event was a very good opportunity to present the real vessel to our clients, partners and employees in the company. BBC LEER has performed very well during her first voyages and has already shown off with her enormous cargo capacity, which makes her and her sister vessels the most efficient vessels of their class,” said Ulrich Ulrichs, CEO of BBC Chartering.

BBC LEER and sister vessels are equipped with two Liebherr LS 250 shipboard cranes, offering a combined lifting capacity of up to 500 mt. Bridge and crew accommodation are located at the front of the ship, with the two cranes located portside. This allows for an impressive unobstructed 2,830 sqm of space on the weather deck. The two cargo holds are box shaped and offer room for almost 26,000 cbm of cargo on a floor space of close to 5,000 sqm, when two tween decks are in operation.

The higher capacity of cargo spaces below deck compared to existing tonnage allows for up to 30 per cent reductions in GHG emissions per freight ton carried, according to BBC Chartering. The main large triple-deck cargo hold can accommodate cargo units under deck at a length of up to 104.3m at a width of up to 18.2m. Hatch covers and tweendecks allow for loads up to 4.0 mtons per sqm, while the tanktop can handle up to 20.0 mt per sqm, in parts up to 25.0 mt/sqm. The vessels are certified to operate with open hatches.