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August 2011www.marinelink.com 13Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding was contracted to build two ?Neo Supramax 66BC? ships, which are next-generation 66,000-dwt bulk carriers developed as low fuel consumption, eco-friendly ships. Keeping the usability of MES? best sell- ing 56,000 dwt type handymax bulk car- rier, Mitsui 56 (which achieved more than 170 contracts) this new and larger bulk carrier is expected to establish a new seg- ment in bulk carrier market. Develop- ment of the ship?s design was preceded by hearings from various owners and op- erators and investigations on more than 600 ports worldwide. This ship is de- signed to have over-Panamax beam (36m) and shallow draft in consideration of prevailing trade patterns and the ex- pansion of Panama Canal in 2014. Despite its larger deadweight and cargo capacity than Mitsui 56, neo Supramax66BC achieves even less fuel consump- tion by adopting a newly developed hull form and other energy saving equipment. At IMO MEPC62 held from 11th toJuly 15, 2011 in London, implementationof new energy efficiency design index (EEDI) and actual restrictions on fuelconsumption have been adopted. Ocean- going ships to be built now on will be re- quired to satisfy a certain level of fuel consumption standard and the require-ment will gradually become more severe, therefore, existing ships will be replaced with ships with superior fuel consump-tion step by step. Neo Supramax 66BC?s fuel consumption is far lower than the re- striction level based on EEDI and is ex- pected to benefit its users in long term under the future marine environment pro- tection restrictions. The MES? achieve- ment is a result of high valuation of neo Supramax 66BC?s concept, superior en- ergy efficiency and operational flexibil- ity from wide beam, shallow draft design. The two ships are to be chartered by Eu- ropean major operator. Special features of the new design in- clude: Fuel consumption of the ship is less than the existing types of handymax bulkers. The ship is designed to have wide beam, shallow draft and deadweight of 66,000 metric tons, while keeping suffi- cient capacity for loading various bulk cargoes including coal, iron ore, wheat, barley, soya beans, etc. The ship can also accommodate lengthy/heavy cargoes such as steel pipe and hot coil. Hatch opening of the ship is opti- mized to meet the existing cargo handling facilities at various ports. Main Particulars of the ShipLength, o.a. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200m Beam (molded) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36m Depth (molded) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18.5m Deadweight abt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66,000mt Service Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14.5kts (NSR) Mitsui Engineering & ShipbuildingMES Tapped to Build ?Neo Supramax 66BC? Ships MR Aug. 11 # 2 (10-17):MR Template 8/3/2011 9:46 AM Page 13