Luxembourg-based CLdN confirmed the placement of an order for 10 newbuild load-on / load-off (LoLo) container vessels with delivery as from January 2027. The large order is a decisive step by CLdN in branching out into the LoLo segment with its own container carrier fleet.
The newbuild ships will have a cargo capacity of 1,100 teu and will complement CLdN’s fleet of more than thirty roll-on / roll-off (RoRo) vessels.
The top management of the company now says that the company’s “entry into the LoLo segment is proving highly complementary to its RoRo services.”
As the company claims, the new ships will have outstanding fuel efficiency and an innovative open-top design to allow reduced port handling times.
To remind, CLdN has been investing in new, larger, more fuel-efficient RoRo ships and in eco-upgrades of its existing vessels. CLdN has invested some €750m in these ships over the past decade.
The result is that CLdN operates more than 30 ships with an average vessel age in 2023 of only 11.5 years compared to a peer group average fleet age of 16.5 years.
Earlier this year, CLdN introduced a successful LoLo offering on its Ireland service using chartered vessels operating from its recently acquired Distriport terminal in Rotterdam.
This service recently expanded with the addition of a third weekly direct sailing between Rotterdam Distriport and Dublin.
“The expansion into the LoLo segment is highly complementary to CLdN’s short-sea RoRo services and provides excellent operational flexibility, quick turnaround times in port and optimal sailing frequency for customers,” reads the CLdN’s statement.
The new vessels will be purposely built by HD Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan, South Korea.
Hyundai is a long-term shipbuilding partner of CLdN and is currently completing the construction of two 8,000 lane meter G9e RoRo vessels which are scheduled for delivery to CLdN in the first half of 2025.
Florent Maes, chief executive officer of CLdN, said: “This order is an important step towards realising our longer-term growth ambitions and cementing CLdN’s position as a leader in the unaccompanied short-sea freight market in Europe.
“Our recent entry into the LoLo segment, facilitated by the acquisition of the Distriport terminal in Rotterdam earlier in the year, has been very well received by customers and is proving highly complementary to our RoRo services.”
