The largest Canadian Flag Con/Ro ship set sail on September 28 from Flensburg, Germany destined for St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Following a series of successful sea trials, Oceanex Inc. accepted delivery of the vessel as originally scheduled. The Oceanex Connaigra arrived in St. John’s during the first weekend of October, where it stayed for a few days before sailing to Halifax to work the Halifax service while the Oceanex Sanderling completes a short dry dock. Later in October, the vessel will move on to Montreal, where it will provide a fixed weekly service between the ports of Montreal and St. John’s.
Captain Sid Hynes, Executive Chairman at Oceanex, states “I am extremely proud to add this innovative, environmentally friendly vessel to our fleet. The Oceanex Connaigra has been custom-designed to meet the many specific requirements of our trade and promises to provide optimum performance and reliability in the harsh weather conditions of east coast Canada.” Captain Hynes goes on to say that he has been extremely pleased to have worked with Flensburger Shipyard (FSG), a world-leader in the construction of RoRo ships and known for its ability to build ships on time and on budget. Hynes says “FSG has lived up to its promise of building a state-of-the-art vessel, and I look forward to working with the company again on future projects”.
From Germany, FSG CEO Peter Sierk states “we are very proud to have been assigned to build this innovative vessel for Oceanex. Such good results were only possible due to the excellent cooperation of all employees of Oceanex and Flensburger, and we are looking forward to building another ship for Oceanex in the future.”
The Oceanex Connaigra is designed to carry containers varying in size from 20 feet to 53 feet, as well as trucks, trailers, cars, and over dimensional cargo with a total of 13,700 square metres of available space and a deadweight of 19,300 tonnes. Other custom features include movable vehicle decks and a wide, reinforced side ramp, thereby improving the versatility of the vessel. For crew comfort and cargo safety, the ice-class Oceanex Connaigra has been outfitted with anti-roll stability tanks and a gyro controlled active fin stabilizer system, which ensures a stable platform and performance reliability. Classed by DNV as a “clean ship”, the Oceanex Connaigra already meets stricter environmental regulations taking effect in 2015.