Frans van Seumeren back in the business

Former Mammoet CEO Frans van Seumeren is back in the industry. With Wout van der Zwan and Gerrit van Wingerden, van Seumeren has started RollDock, a new heavy lift shipping company based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Van Seumeren will be chairman of the Supervisory Board. Diederik Legger is managing director.

Part of the US$ 200 million RollDock investment has been used to acquire the existing four unit fleet of specialized vessels owned by Zadeko Shipmanagement. The vessels, between 3,500 and 4,500 dwt, have ro/ro and lo/lo (maximum 60 tonne cranes) capabilities and MV Ostara can handle cargoes by float in/float out.

In addition, RollDock has acquired the activities of VW (van Wingerden) Global Overseas B.V. and announced a co-operation with well-established shipping companies NileDutch and the van Weelde Shipping Group.

Part of the investment includes ordering four new specialized heavy lift vessels from the new Larsen & Toubro shipyard in Hazira, India. The first ship will be delivered in early 2008 and the others are to follow at four-monthly intervals.

Innovation is a primary feature of the new vessels, according to RollDock. The 8,000 dwt vessels will have a 700 tonne (tandem) lifting capacity, a ro/ro capacity over the stern ramp of 5,000 tonnes, and a float in/float out capacity of 7,000 tonnes. Overall length will be 140 m and they will be 24 m in the beam. Shallow draught capability will be 5.6 m and the cargo hold will be 115 x 19 m. Maximum speed will be 18 knots and they will also have classification to ‘ice-class’ conditions and to sail with open cover.

RollDock is targeting a wide market, including the chemical and petrochemical, offshore and power industries. The semi-submersible capabilities of the vessels also allows the carriage of floating cargoes, for example, dredgers and submarines.