SPLIETHOFF Group member BigLift Shipping and South Korea’s CY Shipping have placed orders in China for two heavy transport vessels to extend their joint fleet of HTVs to six.
The first vessel, owned by Chang Yung, will be delivered in Q4 2025 and the second vessel, owned by BigLift Shipping, in Q2 2026.
Newbuilding contracts for the two new HTVs have been signed with Jing Jiang Nanyang Shipbuilding Co., Ltd, China. The vessels, jointly designed by the two companies, will be known as the BC-class and are designed to transport ultra-large and heavy modular cargoes worldwide, with a focus on reliable service speed, low accelerations and optimized loading and discharge times.
Because of the similar frame spacing, depth, ballast and tidal compensation capacity they will be interchangeable with BigLift’s MC-class vessels BigLift Barentsz and BigLift Baffin, offering even more deck length and stern loading capability, the companies say.
The BC-class will be 180 by 43 metres, and the deck measures 43 by 140 metres, resulting in a fully unobstructed deck space of 6,020 m2. Cargoes can be loaded and discharged over the vessels’ stern or side by ro-ro or skidding. The BC-Class has a depth of 12 metres, a maximum deadweight of 25,000 mt, and the ballast capacity is 12,000 m3/hr. The vessels are not semi-submersible.
BigLift Shipping and CY Shipping combined their heavy transport vessel capabilities in 2019. The current fleet, comprising four HTVs – CY contributes CY Interocean 1 and CY Interocean 2 – is commercially fully operated by BigLift Shipping. The newbuild BC-class vessels enable the company to offer even more unique transport services with three pairs of identical sister vessels, allowing the company to participate in long-term contracts and single voyages worldwide, it says.
