"Frontier Lodestar" stops in Tenerife

In the waters of the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife lies the vessel "Frontier Lodestar," which arrived this afternoon from Haypoint on its way to Ijmuiden to refuel by barge from CEPSA. Our collaborator Ramón Acosta Merino photographed it shortly after its arrival, and on its chimney, we see painted the insignia of the powerful Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK).

The ship, flagged in Panama, is a "capesize" chartered under a long-term contract to Tata NYK Shipping Pte Ltd., a company formed 50% by NYK and Tata Steel, the most important industrial company in India. The transport forecast for this vessel is 1.4 million tons annually of ore or coal in service of Tata Steel UK.

This is a next-generation "bulkcarrier," built at Koyo Dockyard Ltd., a factory in Mihara, Hiroshima (Japan), and it entered service on September 15, 2011. With a gross tonnage of 92,752 tons and a deadweight of 181,338 tons, it measures 292 m in overall length, 45 m in beam, and 17.30 m in draft. IMO Code 9590864.

Photo: Ramón Acosta Merino