The first series of eight Bangkok-max container vessels will be built at the Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard in China. The ships will serve as feeder vessels in Asian waters.
Four of the ships are being built for Buss Shipping, part of Buss Group from Hamburg. The other four ships are for Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Limited, a ship management company with its head offices in Athens, Greece.
Marine industry's solutions provider Wärtsilä received the order to supply the main engines for this series. The eight Wärtsilä RT-flex60C main engines will be built by a Wärtsilä licensee, Hudong Heavy Machinery (HHM), based in Shanghai. In meeting the needs of the new Bangkok-max container vessel design, the RT-flex engine technology offers excellent fuel consumption, reliability, and the possibility to incorporate environmental upgrades at a later date, as Wärtsilä states. Furthermore, the compact size of the engine is ideal for the narrow engine room that the vessel design calls for. The machinery for the first of these 1700 TEU container vessels is scheduled to be delivered in 2012, with the remainder being delivered at regular intervals thereafter.