![](https://www.marfret.com/app/uploads/2024/04/steel-cutting-2-1200x729-2.jpg)
The ceremony for cutting the first steel plate took place on March 26 at the Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard.
The vessel, named Durande, features technological advancements enabling a 50% fuel economy compared to the performance of the first Durande vessel that the company acquired in 2003 and sold last year.
The Durande is scheduled to enter service by the end of the first quarter of 2025. With a capacity of 1,900 EVP containers, it is part of a series of four vessels ordered by Reederei Nord from Chinese shipyards. Marfret recently acquired the third hull of this series for 30 million dollars. This new acquisition comes just 3 months after the arrival of the roll-on/roll-off vessel Ferrymar in the waters of the Caribbean, demonstrating Marfret’s ongoing fleet expansion.