Dutch shipyard Concordia Damen has signed a contract for 40 dual-fuel barges with institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
These barges will be chartered by Shell and operated by the VT Group/Marlow, the shipyard said in its statement.
The 110 by 11.5-meter vessels will have LNG propulsion and extreme shallow draught capabilities – 2800 ton on 3.25 metre draught – in order to maximise cargo-carrying capacity on Dutch, Belgian and German canal and river networks.
The VT Group is specialised in inland shipping, transporting minerals, chemical products, bio fuels and lubricants.
The Parsifal tankers will transport mineral oils between Antwerp, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Rhine network.
Concordia Damen will begin the construction of the tankers in December this year.
The delivery of the first vessel will be in November 2021. After that, the yard will deliver another vessel each month, completing the order by December 2024.