Asia Break Bulk and Schoeller Holdings Launch Four-Vessel Multipurpose Newbuilding Program

Singapore-based shipping line Asia Break Bulk (ABB) has agreed with Cyprus-based shipowner Schoeller Holdings on a newbuilding program for four multipurpose heavy-lift vessels, as part of a fleet expansion that will begin to materialize from 2028 onward.

These are 12,600 dwt Octopus-type units designed by China's CSSC-SDARI, each fitted with two 250-tonne cranes capable of tandem lifts of up to 500 tonnes. The vessels will feature a single box-shaped hold of over 89 meters in length, a forward-positioned superstructure that adds deck space for oversized cargo, 1A ice class, and a service speed of 15 knots.

The first vessel is scheduled for delivery in October 2028, to be followed by the other three. Neither the shipyard nor the financial terms of the agreement were disclosed. Schoeller Holdings is acting as the program's partner, contributing to the construction and financing of the fleet, while Columbia Shipmanagement will oversee construction and take on technical and crew management once the vessels enter service.

Asia Break Bulk's General Manager, Maximilian Fischer, noted that customers increasingly seek shorter transit times and direct access to ports with draft restrictions and limited infrastructure. According to Fischer, while smaller MPP vessels cannot compete on economies of scale with larger ships, they offer advantages in flexibility, accessibility and operational efficiency, enabling the carriage of long, heavy and complex cargoes beyond conventional liner hubs while reducing transshipments.

Asia Break Bulk, founded in Singapore in 2006 and a shipping brand of the Hamburg-based COLI Group, turns 20 this year and has traditionally operated semi-liner services between Asia and Europe; with the new fleet it aims to expand into worldwide tramp operations for increasingly complex project cargoes. Cyprus-based Schoeller Holdings had already ordered two 32,000 dwt MPP vessels this year at China's CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding for delivery in 2029, as part of a relationship with that shipyard dating back to 2008.