Wallenius Marine receives new ship management assignment

After completing a project with m/v PORGY, Wallenius Marine has been appointed as the ship manager for its sister vessel, m/v BESS. The new assignment includes project management for a major upgrade as well as ongoing ship management. 

The upgrade as well as the ship management assignment will be conducted by Wallenius Marine’s Singapore-based team. The upgrade project is planned to begin in June 2025 at the IMC shipyard in Zhoushan, China.

“The Singapore team’s and crew’s dedication and excellent work on m/v PORGY undoubtedly paved the way for the next request from Wallenius Wilhelmsen. Since the beginning of the year, WM Singapore has been conducting a similar process with m/v BESS, which has now resulted in a renewed partnership. With BESS, we now have ship management assignments for 33 vessels, which is a doubling of operational vessels in about 3 years. By leveraging the expertise within our organization, we can seamlessly integrate new vessels into our ship management”, says Henrik Hammarberg, Head of Global Ship Management at Wallenius Marine.

m/v BESS will undergo a similar upgrade at the IMC shipyard in China, starting in June 2025.

About m/v BESS

m/v BESS is a Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) with a capacity of 6,400 CEU (Car Equivalent Units). Built in 2010 by Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding in Toyohashi, Japan, the vessel currently sails under the Panamanian flag and measures 199 meters in length and 32 meters in width.

m/v PORGY and m/v BESS are both named after the classic opera Porgy and Bess (1935) by George Gershwin—a story about love and life’s challenges in a fishing community in Charleston. The opera was groundbreaking as it was only allowed to be performed by African American singers, making it a significant milestone in theater history. This was unusual in the 1930s when white singers often performed Black roles using dark makeup. However, Gershwin wanted the opera to be authentic and to depict African American life in a respectful way.

Photo by Wallenius Marine: m/v BESS, taken in July 2010. Today, the vessel is painted in the current Wallenius Wilhelmsen colour scheme.