The bulk carrier Polsteam Pile has entered the Polish Steamship Company
On 26 September this year, the ceremonial handover and christening of the newest ship of Polish Shipping – m/s Polsteam Pile – took place at the Chinese Shanhaiguan shipyard in Qinhungdao (Hebei province). It is a 37,000 tonne vessel, belonging to the so-called laker-max class.
The ship’s godmother was Karolina Borchardt, a senior ship operator from Zakład Eksploatacji Floty PŻM.
M/s Polsteam Pile is already the fourth of twelve 37,000-tonne lake vessels ordered by Polska Żegluga Morska from the shipyards of the Chinese Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC) group. The previous three vessels: Polsteam Dabie, Polsteam Koprowo and Polsteam Lebsko, entered service this year, while the next bulk carriers in the series will be delivered quarterly between 2025 and 2026.
The first eight vessels are equipped with energy-efficient engines, running on classic fuel. The last four, will already be vessels capable of burning emission-free, ‘green’ methanol.
The Laker-maxes are designed to enter the American Great Lakes through a system of canals and locks. This is a strategic market for PŻM, where the shipowner transports around 300,000 tonnes of high-quality steel annually.
The bulk carrier m/s Polsteam Pile’s first voyage was commanded by a true veteran of Great Lakes navigation, Capt. Piotr Mikołajczyk, who has already commanded the first of the Polsteam Dabie series of ships on its maiden voyage.
Like its three predecessors, the ship will load 29,200 tonnes of high-grade steel at the Asian ports of Lianyungang (China), Incheon (Korea) and Kwangyang (Korea). It will then head to Singapore for fuel, before crossing the Pacific, passing through the Panama Canal, entering the Atlantic and heading to the American Great Lakes unloading ports of Three Rivers (Canada), Hamilton (Canada), Toledo (USA) and Windsor (Canada).
The shipowner hopes that Polsteam Pile and its crew will be favoured by the winds and make it to the Great Lakes before they close for the winter season at the end of December.
All of the new Polsteam lakeshippers have the names of Polish lakes on their sides. Pile is a beautiful lake in the Szczecin Lake District, in the Borne Sulinowo municipality. It is almost 9 km long and almost 3 km wide and its depth reaches as much as 44 m.
At present, the PŻM fleet consists of 56 vessels, including 52 bulk carriers and 4 ferries.
Source: PortalMorski.pl
