In August a small delegation set out to China to christen the biggest ships ever contracted by the Hartmann Group - the two Capesize bulk carriers MV Lancelot and MV Percival under construction at New Century Shipbuilding in Jing Jiang City in China.

The two vessels were to be christened by the wife of the previous Minister of Transport in Cyprus, Mr. Nicos Nicolaides, Elena Nicolaides, and the Personal Assistant of Mr. Alfred Hartmann of 20 years, Ms. Anke Fransen. The delegation further consisted of Alfred Hartmann, his daughter Ilka and her husband Klaus Heilmann, Erika Hoese (sister of Anke Fransen), Eugen Adami and Dieter and Andri Rohdenburg.

ISN's relation with the shipyard goes back 13 years when it was still called Jing Jiang Shipyard and constructed ISN's 'A-Class' vessels and the Lakers which are on time charter to Fednav. The General Manager of the yard, Mr. Liu Haijin, who is also ISN's representative in China, has been of valuable help in establishing the relation with Shandong Huanghai Shipbuilding in Shidao, where the MCP vessels were built, as well as the P-Class and the Cement Carriers.

The christening delegation arrived in Shanghai on Saturday 14th August, respectively Monday 16th August and continued their way to Jing Jiang where the night was spent at the International Hotel. The yard arranged a welcome dinner on Monday evening, where the participants were treated to typical Chinese food from the Jing Jiang region.

The next day was to be the big day - Tuesday 17th August. The group was joined by a delegation of 9 persons from DHL China, the charterers of the first vessel, as well as the broker involved in the charter, Mark Carlisle of SSY in London.

After breakfast, the group set out by bus to the shipyard where everything was set up for the christening. Following several speeches by the shipyard and ISN the first vessel was christened in the name "DHL PACIFIC" by Elena Nicolaides. The bottle smashed against the hull of the vessel and broke at first try. Fireworks went off all around, marking the moment.

Elena was congratulated by everybody for a job well done. The ship is scheduled for delivery on the 2nd September 2010.



The group then proceeded to the 'godchild' of Ms. Fransen which is still under construction in the building dock (delivery scheduled for mid November).

Everything was set up for "cutting the cord". Anke Fransen took the opportunity and addressed the guests with a few words before performing the task - the bottle broke on the first attempt, and the vessel was christened in the name "DHL ATLANTIC".





After successful christening the group was invited to a tour of the yard by bus, which was most interesting - particularly given the enormous size of the yard. The tour ended at the DHL Pacific, where the group was invited to tour the vessel. Most of the guests had never been on a vessel of this size, and were stunned by the dimensions. As Capt. Huang, Head of the Supervision Team, remarked: One of the cargo holds can accommodate the entire cargo that a B-Class ship can load!

After the visit onboard, the group was taken to the International Hotel where lunch was set up. After several speeches and exchange of prensents, everybody was treated to a special Chinese menu to celebrate the occasion.

The group headed back to Shanghai in the afternoon and enjoyed a rare Chinese shark fin soup for dinner.

For the next morning, a sightseeing tour was organised. The day started with a visit to the EXPO 2010 which was most interesting - unfortunately the queues in front of the most popular pavilions were so long that the time was not enough. After several other places of interest, the group went for dinner on the famous "Bund", followed by a night cruise on the river.





The next morning the group flew to Beijing, where a dinner was set up for the evening with the Ambassador of Cyprus, H.E. Mr. Marios Ieronymides, at a traditional "Peking Duck" restaurant. The following day was packed with sightseeing, and a lunch with the Chairman of the Chinese Classification Society (CCS) at their Head Office. The luncheon was joined by the ex-Ambassador of China in Cyprus, H.E. Mr. Zhao Yali.

The flight back home left Beijing at 23:55 on that day, and it was to be another highlight; the group travelled back to Dubai with the new Airbus A380!

Everybody had a great time during the trip, it was an event to be remembered for years to come.

Special thanks goes to the Godmothers for accepting to christen the ships.

Dieter Rohdenburg

 

 

&nbs