Anyone know what the deal is with this situation beyond the news? The things been in service a month or so, and needs to be hauled for wheel work, sounds like a CPP issue.
http://shipfax.blogspot.com/search/label/Oceanex%20Connaigra
AIS seems to have it going for drydock in Boston, US of A on a slow bell (Take note, Paddy!)…can only imagine that’s why it’s headed there. They have been on a good tear of MSC drydock work the last decade or so, I think the Cape KNOX sailed from drydock sometime last week from my casual AIS observations…yes I am an AIS nerd.
Reading all the press about this ship and its trade has me thinking that’s what we need in the us. A half dozen CON/RO ships in trade on a regular schedule between say Houston and Boston. Service speed around 20+, you’d be in business taking crap off the roads. And for the fun of it, they say it cost $108 mil comparted to 200-ish for the new matsons, and is considerably smaller, NOT dual fuel, and was built in Germany. An even more interesting comparison to the Oceanex Connaigra is the new Crowley CON/RO ships setup to be built @ Halter, dual fuel, a little bigger, and $350 mil for the pair. The premium for US built over German seems to be fairly small.