July 8 - SAL Heavy Lift has added two ships of Type 116 to its fleet to serve clients with lift requirements of up to 900 tonnes.
MV Calypso and MV Amoenitas are equipped with two cranes each of 450 tonne lift capacity and have the highest ice class.
SAL says that as its type 183 and 176 vessels are already well booked ahead, the fleet's expansion with type 116 is a response to the growing demand for its mid-range services on the part of customers worldwide.
The first voyages of both ships are already fully booked: Amoenitas left Masan, South Korea, on route to the Black Sea port of Mangalia in Romania carrying a cargo of engines. On the way , the vessel made a port call in China to load three tugs weighing up to 685 tonnes each, which were discharged in Myanmar.
Calypso has loaded project cargo, including a reactor over 500 tonnes, in Thailand for delivery to the United States in August.
The names of both vessels were chosen for historical reasons: In 1984, the original Calypso became the first heavy lift vessel to be added to SAL's fleet.
The historical S.S. Amoenitas was the first ship purchased by SAL's founding family, the Heinrichs, in 1865; it came freshly built from the Sietas shipyard. Both names are intended to honour Hans Heinrich who passed away in December 2013.
The company from which the ships have been chartered has not been disclosed, but in addition to the name on the stern and the the SAL logo on the hull, the Harren & Partner logo appears on the ship's funnels.
