Dutch ship owner Spliethoff has confirmed it has bought another five vessels of bankrupt Hansa Heavy Lift, with the purchase of a sixth vessel expected to be closed soon. That brings the total number of vessels Spliethoff bought from Hansa Heavy to eleven.

The six new vessels add 118,000 tons of cargo capacity to Spliethoff’s fleet and significantly expand the range of cargoes the company can handle. While the average hoisting capacity of the Dutch operator’s vessels ranges between 160 and 300 tons, the six vessels purchased from Hansa Heavy have lift capabilities of 800 and 1,400 tons.

Just last week, analyst firm Dynamar suggested that the company might be expanding its heavy lift range. In January, Spliethoff already bought five vessels from Hansa Heavy which included one ship with a heavy-lift of 800 tons. “It is suggested that the “Prinsengracht”, as she is called, may become the first of a new P-series with an indeed higher than so far usual lift,” Dynamar writes in its latest breakbuk report. That series is now a reality. With the latest purchase, Spliethoff owns three vessels with a maximum lift of 800 tons and four with a lift of 1,400 tons.

1 million

The Amsterdam-based shipping company is rapidly expanding its fleet. In total, the eleven Hansa Heavy ships have added 189,140 tons of cargo capacity to its fleet this year. That corresponds to a growth of 25%, not counting the ships operated by Spliethoff’s subsidiaries BigLift, Bore, Sevenstar, Transfennica and Wijnne Barends.

Spliethoff currently ranks third in the top-10 of multipurpose vessel operators. Although the gap numbers with BBC Chartering and Cosco Shipping Specialized Carriers (CoscoSSC) is still large, BBC and Cosco have fleets of 1.8 million dwt, the Dutch ship owner is closing in. Including the six new vessels its total cargo capacity amounts to 952,00 tons, but considering Spliethoff has another six vessels of 18,000 dwt on order it will soon break through the one million deadweight tons barrier. The delivery date and builder of these vessels, however, are yet unknown.

New names

Although the purchase of the last vessel hasn’t been finalized, Spliethoff already has new names for each of the six vessels. Once the purchase has been closed the HHL Rio de Janeiro (20,100 dwt / 800 tons lift) will become the Parkgracht. The other 800 tons lift vessel, HHL Kobe, has been renamed the Pietersgracht, while the HHL Lagos, HHL Richards Bay, HHL Fremantle and HHL Tokyo, each with a maximum lift of 1,400 tons, have been renamed the Pijlgracht, Pauwgracht, Poolgracht and Paleisgracht, respectively. Together with the earlier purchased Prinsengracht, formerly known as the HHL New York, they now form Spliethoff’s heavy-lift capable P-series.