NORDEN adds to Capesize portfolio to meet customer demands

NORDEN is acquiring four Capesize newbuildings to meet strong demands from customers looking to unlock economies of scale by sizing up to improve efficiencies while lowering emissions.

With the latest investments, adding to the five owned and seven chartered Capesize vessels, NORDEN gradually moves closer to its ambition to operate between 20–25 Capesizes, supporting its full-service approach by creating a truly unique customer offering across all dry cargo sizes. The investments are furthermore a testament to the long-term opportunities that NORDEN is seeing in the dry cargo markets.

Besides giving customers the opportunity to upsize to improve supply-chain efficiencies, Capesizes also enables NORDEN to enhance the scope of current and future logistics projects, all while strengthening the ambitions to decarbonize its customers’ supply chains.

“With our latest investments in not only Capesizes but also in Projects & Parcelling and logistics, we are now able to provide our customers with a truly unique full-service approach across all dry cargo segments, with a strong focus on decarbonization,” says Jan Rindbo, CEO of NORDEN.

The four state-of-the-art vessels are expected to be delivered between 2025–2027.

About Capesize Vessels

Capesize bulk carriers are usually between 150,000–210,000 tonnes in deadweight with a length of 289 metres. The vessels are 45 metres wide with a draught of about 18 metres when fully loaded. The name Capesize originates from a time when the vessels were too large to transit the Suez Canal and Panama Canal and instead had to traverse between oceans via either Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn.

Working in potentially explosive atmospheres has a lot of strict and complex rules, regulations and procedures – especially when it comes to inspections using ‘Hot Tools’ that can cause ignition.

The Cygnus 1 Ex is different to any ultrasonic testing (UT) equipment on the market. Here’s why…

Certified Intrinsically Safe For Zone 0 Areas

Carrying out inspections with testing equipment certified to a suitable protection level is vital to ensuring the testing operation does not jeopardize the safety of hazardous environments. It is important to understand which is the correct equipment, and where to use it.

The Cygnus 1 Ex uses the Intrinsically Safe protection to ensure that under both normal uses and with applied fault conditions, no arc or spark can be generated, and no component can heat up enough to cause an explosion. Therefore, the 1 Ex can be safely used in ‘Zone 0’ hazardous areas such as oil and gas refineries, mines and fuel depots.

No Hot Work Permit Required

Another plus to the Intrinsic Safety (IS) design of the 1 Ex is that it is able to perform live testing safely within hazardous areas without the need for a Hot Work Permit or plant shutdown, making it ideal for anyone working around open flames and heat application. The Cygnus 1 Ex is in a league of its own. This unique advantage saves time and money which can be spent elsewhere whilst allowing users to take wall thickness surveys anytime.

More Features From This Impressive Gauge

The entire gauge, from how it sits in the hand to taking and storing measurements, is geared towards the best user experience, making inspection quick and simple despite challenging environments, such as mines.

The display offers four screen views: Measurement, AScan, Data-logging, and B-Scan, which can be easily rotated using the left and right navigation keys. Four dynamic function keys are purposely integrated to match screens, maximizing ease and speed of control. And users can quickly switch the screen between a light or dark background to adapt to indoor and outdoor lighting. What’s more, the gauge’s Manual Measurement Mode allows gates and gain to be configured to suit the application. For post-inspection analysis, users can transfer data and generate reports seamlessly using CygLink, easily connected via Bluetooth™ or a data port.

Cygnus 1 Ex Can Measure Through Thick Coatings

This heavy-duty device also uses the Cygnus-pioneered Multiple-Echo technique which ignores protective coatings — negating the need and time for removing important, expensive coatings or epoxy that safeguard against external or internal corrosion.

Furthermore, Cygnus’ Deep-Coat feature allows the gauge to make the leap from measuring substrates through the standard 3mm (0.12”) coatings, up to 20mm (0.8”) thick coatings.

The Cygnus 1 Ex, like all Cygnus products, is manufactured in the UK and has a 3-year warranty.