Lloyd Triestino continues to upgrade its fleet

The Italian shipping line, Lloyd Triestino di Navigazione SpA (
LT), continues to upgrade its fleet of container vessels and will so
on take delivery of the first vessel to be newly built for the compan
y since 1993.
In mid July, LT took delivery of LT Grace, the fourth 2728TEU G-type
containership which it has purchased since the first, LT Glory, wa
s delivered in July 1999. In mid August, it is due to take deliver
y of a fifth ship in this class, LT Greet. All five ships are employ
ed on the company's CEM Far East - North Europe service (which
incorporates a Mediterranean hub call at Gioia Tauro) alongside thre
e vessels built for LT between 1989 and 1993 and two vessels chartere
d in. The largest vessels in LT's fleet are LT Garland and LT Glamou
r. Built in 1987/88 and acquired last year, these 3428TEU vessels a
re employed in the FEM service that links the Mediterranean with the
Far East and calls at LT's home port of Trieste.
However, these GX-class ships will soon be eclipsed by the delivery
of three much larger U-class ships, now under construction in Jap
an. The first of these 5364TEU post-Panamax vessels, LT Usodimare
; will be delivered on 24 November, 2000 by Mitsubishi's Kobe sh
ipyard. Like the rest of the LT fleet, the three U-types will be I
talian flag and Italian crewed. As is customary with LT newbuilding
s, they will be constructed according to the rules of the Italian cla
ssification society RINA.
According to LT's chairman, Pier Luigi Maneschi, the company is on tra
ck to meet the targets it set for itself following privatisation in 1
998: "We are concentrating on upgrading our fleet to meet the require
ments of our principal services which link Europe and the Mediterranea
n with the Far East. This required us to acquire further ships in t
he 2500-3500 TEU range; at the time of privatisation, LT owned just
three ships of over 2000TEU.
"Initially, we have bought second-hand tonnage as this was the
quickest way of restructuring our fleet. We have also sold older, sma
ller ships which did not fit in with our future plans.
"Now though, we are looking to the newbuilding sector as we need mo
dern, efficient tonnage, especially to develop our new services to Nor
th America.
"The addition of LT Usodimare and her sisters will stimulate the
whole company. They will be the largest containerships in the Itali
an fleet and will be true LT flagships. They are symbolic of the re
birth of this proud Italian company which first set sail in 1836."
LT Usodimare is being named after a famous Italian seafarer, Antoni
otto Usodimare. Born in 1415, Usodimare is considered by some to
have discovered the Cap Verde Islands as he explored the West Afric
an coastline along with the Venetian Alvise da Cadamosto. Together w
ith Cadamosto, he also navigated the Gambia river in 1456.
The current fleet of LT (including planned acquisitions and newbuildin
gs) is as follows: Existing vessels

LT Garland 3428TEU
LT Glamour 3428TEU

Nuova Genova 2987TEU
Nuova Trieste 2987TEU

LT Lloydiana 2758TEU

LT Grand 2728TEU
LT Globe 2728TEU
LT Glory 2728TEU
LT Grace 2728TEU
LT Greet 2728TEU

(due to join the LT fleet on 17 August 2000)
LT Africa 1555TEU
LT Europa 1555TEU

Newbuildings
LT Usodimare 5364TEU delivery November 2000
LT U........... 5364TEU delivery 2
001
LT U........... 5364TEU delivery 2
001