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SHOPPING FOR SHIPS FLEETS • HAMBURG-BASED GEFO IS CURRENTLY MAKING THE BIGGEST INVESTMENT IN ITS 60-YEAR HISTORY, PREPARING ITS SEAGOING AND INLAND FLEETS FOR THE DEMANDS FOR CLEANER TRANSPORT GEFO IS CURRENTLY involved in a €400m fleet renewal and expansion programme of its 150-strong fleet of shortsea and inland chemical and gas tankers. The company, founded in Hamburg in 1961 as Gesellschaft
and six of 3,800 dwt. All are equipped with stainless steel tanks to allow all types of chemical cargoes, including acids and alkalis, to be carried. Five existing ships have already been acquired, also for sailing with chemical
für Oeltransporte, is building 26 new vessels at specialised yards in China, Turkey, Romania and the Netherlands and is also aiming to acquire 13 modern vessels on the secondhand market. GEFO’s shopping list includes nine new seagoing chemical tankers, three of 7,500 dwt
cargoes. These include the 2018-built Gioconda, which has 14 stainless steel tanks and is ice class 1A. The other 17 newbuildings are for inland waterway operation and include five gas tankers and 12 chemical tankers, 11 of which also have stainless steel cargo tanks, ranging
HCB MONTHLY | APRIL 2022
in size from 1,500 dwt to 4,000 dwt. Four of the chemical tankers have already been committed under 10-year charters to chemical shippers. In addition, eight inland vessels have been acquired. Naturally, all units destined for seagoing work, as well as those for the Rhine network and operations in the Antwerp-RotterdamAmsterdam (ARA) chemical triangle are all built with double hulls for reasons of safety and environmental protection. CARRY MORE STUFF GEFO shipped some 18.3m tonnes of product in 2021, all of which was classed as dangerous goods with explosive or toxic hazards. For this reason, the company maintains intensive and sophisticated accident prevention methods and precautions throughout its technical, operational and specialist HSSEQ departments. “Safety for people the environment, cargo, ship
