CSL Koasek for Gold Bond

 The CSL Group added two ships to its CSL Americas fleet last year, and today (December 15) marks the arrival in Halifax of the second of the ships, CSL Koasek. Its sister CSL Kajika stopped over in Halifax briefly on April 19, 2022 en route to Sydney, NS with a cargo of coal. This time CSL Koasek is en route from Sydney where it delivered a cargo of Columbian coal. 

CSL acquired the two Kamsarmax (gearless) bulk carriers and had them converted to gravity feed self-unloaders. As built by Jiangsu Newjangzi Shipbuilding in Jingjiang, China, the CSL Koasek was called SBI Electra and was 44,200 gt, 81,800 dwt ship built for Scorpio Bulkers International (Lauro family) of Monaco and New York. 

Scorpio had embarked on an ambitious program of equipping its 55 plus strong fleet of bulkers and 75 or more tankers with exhaust gas scrubbers on the assumption that fuel savings would far exceed the installation cost of $US 1.5 to $US 2.2 per ship. The plan did not work out however and what with a combination of other world events Scorpio ended up selling off its bulker fleet and racking up a loss of $US 600 mn. CSL picked up the SBI Electra and sister SBI Flamenco for a cool $48US million (for which, less debt, Scorpio increased liquidity by $US18.6 mn). (SBI then changed its name to Eneti Inc, purchased Seajacks International and shifted to offshore the wind farm installation business instead.)

CSL sent the two ships (which dropped the SBI prefix in 2019) to the COSCO Nantong Shipyard where they were converted to gravity feed self-unloaders. The dual belt configuration resulted in a "W" shape hold and a double hull throughout. The additional equipment, and loss of hold space due to the hopper configuration, gave new tonnages of 44,408 gt and 77,247 dwt. The investment in self-unloading equipment and loss of hold space is usually justified by higher unloading speed, shorter time in port, flexibility of shore facilities, and more cargo carrying trips. The new gear allows for self-unloading rates of 4,250 tonnes per hour for coal and 5,000 tonnes per hour for gypsum, aggregates, and iron ore.

On delivery to CSL in 2021 the ships were renamed. Depending on the source Koasek may mean "a young tree"and Kajika "walks without sound" in the Abenaki langage.
 

CSL Koasek was met in the Narrows by the tug Atlantic Willow on its way to load at the Gold Bond (National Gypsum Canada) dock in Bedford Basin..

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