Grimaldi has exercised its option with China Merchants Heavy Industries Jiangsu for the construction of five new PCTC vessels. With this operation, the total number of car carriers ordered by the Neapolitan company in less than three months has risen to fifteen.

The concept of the new buildings was developed by the Grimaldi Group in collaboration with the Knud E. Hansen naval design and architecture studio. With loading capacity of over 9,000 CEU (Car Equivalent Units), they are designed to transport electric vehicles as well as fossil fuel vehicles. They received the Ammonia Ready class notation from RINA (Italian Shipping Register), which certifies that the ships are designed for eventual conversion for the use of ammonia as marine fuel.

These vessels will be equipped with mega lithium batteries, solar panels and shore connection capability (cold ironing), which – where available – constitutes a green alternative to the consumption of fossil fuels during port stays. Other state-of-the-art technologies will be installed on board with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint – these include an air lubrication system, innovative propulsion and optimised hull design. Overall, the new ships will be able to cut fuel consumption by 50% compared to the previous generation of car carrier vessels.

The new PCTCs will be deployed on voyages between Europe, North Africa, and the Near and Far East to meet the new transport needs of automotive industry players.

“Grimaldi is committed to green shipping and will lead further the car shipping transportation field”, stated CMI President Hu Xianpu. “CMI Group will also take the green technology shipbuilding as a new growth point and cooperate with Grimaldi to achieve common long-term development.”

“Thanks for Grimaldi trust in CMI Group, who will mobilise the resource of the whole Group to provide the best service for Grimaldi, and build high quality vessels with good delivery time to achieve a win-win situation”, added CMI Vice President Wu Sichuan.

“With our recent orders for the construction of new PCTC vessels, we’ve strengthened our long lasting and fruitful collaboration with China Merchant Industry Holdings,” said Grimaldi Group Managing Director Emanuele Grimaldi. “We’ve also reaffirmed our commitment to our customers, especially the world’s leading car manufacturers who continue to reward us with their trust. In this way, we’ll continue to live up to their high expectations and meet their evolving needs, with our offer of increasingly efficient and environmentally sustainable shipping services. Ten out of fifteen of our newly ordered car carriers will be deployed on the Far East trade and support the increasing development of China’s automotive industry.”

The Neapolitan company is vigorously pursuing the upgrade and renewal of its fleet, which currently counts 130 ships deployed worldwide.

The ten vessels commissioned from China Merchants Heavy Industries Jiangsu will be delivered between 2025 and 2027. Overall, thanks to its recent investments totalling about $2.5 billion, the Group will take delivery of twenty-five new ultra-modern vessels over the next five years, including fifteen ammonia-ready PCTCs (with option for another two units), six G5-class ro-ro multipurpose vessels, two GG5G-class hybrid ro-ro ships and two Superstar-class ro-pax units (for its subsidiary Finnlines).