New Ship in MC Fleet

“MCT Monte Rosa” christened in Bremerhaven

In full splendour and flagged over the top, it was moored at the quay of Motorenwerke Bremen in Bremerhaven: the “MCT Monte Rosa” - in this case both ship and crew - feverishly looked forward to the christen - ing. The sun made its way through the clouds when the christening party arrived.

Mega Chemicals Pool Manager Svein Kristiansen praised the high standards of the new products- and chemical-tankers to the guests and crew: “All tanks are made of stainless steel.” Conventional tankers, by contrast, are equipped with coated tanks. “The vessel can thus transport nearly all liquids, including acids, and can therefore be operated very flexibly,” explained Kristiansen. “The 'MCT Monte Rosa' is 164 metres long, 23 metres wide and under full load lies 9.5 metres deep in the water,” Kristiansen described the basic parameters of the ship.

Even though the Swiss are the most eager users of rail transport after the Japanese, the statistics from 2002 show a density of 507 cars per 1,000 inhabitants. This corresponds to a total of approximately 3.65 million automobiles in Switzerland. If one assumes a fuel consumption of six litres of petrol or diesel per 100 kilometres, the delivery frequency would not have to be especially high in order to guarantee relatively high mobility for Swiss traffic with Mega Chemicals' four new tankers - Kristiansen took into account all four sister ships - in the event of a crisis.

Through the “MCT Monte Rosa” the Swiss merchant fleet consolidated its 13th place in the world ranking, says Kristiansen. This means 33 merchant vessels al to - gether operate under Swiss flag, the white cross on a red background. With the “MCT Monte Rosa's” 19,800 tdw the total load capacity of Swiss ships increases to 918,400 tdw. Every tanker in this series of new vessels thus accounts for two percent of the Swiss transport volume.

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What the christened name might have to do with the charter rate

The path taken by godmother Heike Lothar showed that a ship's christening is not an everyday event: “As a Hamburg gal and qualified shipping clerk, I first had to move to Switzerland in order to be able to christen a ship in Bremerhaven,” she explained to the guests. The four sister vessels are christened after Swiss moun - tains, Ms. Lothar added. How ever, the “mountain” Monte Rosa is not merely a mountain, but an entire massif in the Valais Alps (see page 2). It includes about ten peaks. “One of them is the Dufour peak and at a height of 4,633 metres it is the highest point in Switzerland. May it be true to its name for the shipowners on the commercial side, i.e. in terms of the amount of the chartering contracts concluded,“ the godmother drew an arc between the ship's name and profit. “I christen you 'MCT Monte Rosa' and wish you and your crew a safe journey at all times and may there always be water beneath your keel,” she concluded her christening speech.

Big ship, small wheel

The faces of the crew outshone the sun when the guests came on board the “MCT Monte Rosa” after the official christening ceremony and the blue-green ribbon was ceremoniously cut. The guests - many of whom had never been on a ship this size, let alone sailed with the merchant marine - had the rare opportunity of taking hold of the wheel themselves for once on the bridge of the “MCT Monte Rosa”, high up on the ship and even higher above the water. How - ever, the helm certainly astonished some of them. Those who expected a wheel on a small handy size tanker similar to that on the Gorch Fock were taught otherwise. Every “Volkswagen” (approx. 100 hp) has a bigger steering wheel than the helm of the tanker (10,690 hp).

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Tour around the ship

After the reception and welcoming of the guests on the bridge Captain Nikolay Marchenko and Chief Engineer Aleksandr Baranov, naturally supported by the whole crew, proudly displayed their ship. From the bridge the tour led directly to the car - go control room, important because the cargo tanks cannot be filled or emptied randomly.
Uneven loading would lead to stress and deformation in the ship structure. Targeted changing of ballast, controlled by means of the computer in the cargo control room, balances this out. During the rest of the tour across the deck to the forebody and the below-deck rooms in the bow, all the way down to the bow thrusters, the captain and his crew were asked countless questions: “What has been transported before?” (palm oil, sun - flower oil, acids and oils) - or: “How long are those bow lines there on the drum?” (220 metres) - and: “What is the bell for?” (a signal bell for sailing in fog) were some of the things the guests wanted to know.

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In the belly of the tanker

The guests felt warm not only inside when they descended into the depths of the engine room: 10,690 hp in six cylinders (that were, of course, not moving), numerous auxiliary engines (running), the water treatment facilities and shipboard recycl - ing unit could be inspected there. Cleanly packed spare parts, such as a piston, con - veyed an impression of the dimensions of the parts within the engine painted light green. And the shipboard workshop look - ed as neat as a museum! Anyone who wished to do so was allowed to pick up a wrench as big as an arm. Many a guest would certainly have liked to stay on board longer and experience how the MCT Monte Rosa started the main engine and went into service the next day. However, a lot of work awaited the crew and so the tour on board ended with a group photo of the complete crew.

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