Asia Break Bulk adds four 12,600 dwt heavy-lift newbuilds with 500-tonne combined lift
The Octopus-type multipurpose ships come with Schoeller Holdings, carry two 250-tonne cranes and ice class 1A, and arrive from October 2028
Asia Break Bulk, the Singapore-based carrier of Hamburg's COLI Group, has signed long-term agreements with Schoeller Holdings for four 12,600 dwt multipurpose project cargo newbuilds. The first ship is due for delivery in October 2028, with her three sisters following.
The Octopus-type design by CSSC-SDARI pairs two 250-tonne cranes, which can work in tandem for lifts of up to 500 tonnes, with a single box-shaped hold of more than 89 metres. A bridge-forward layout leaves extra deck space for oversized cargo, the hull is optimised for a service speed of 15 knots, and ice class 1A allows winter trading in ice-affected areas. The company's specification gives the full particulars. The yard has not been named.
Schoeller Holdings is the project partner and is facilitating the four newbuildings, while Columbia Shipmanagement is supervising construction and will take on technical and crew management once the ships enter service.
What changes for Asia Break Bulk's trades?
Founded in Singapore in 2006, Asia Break Bulk marks its 20th anniversary this year. It has run a semi-liner service for breakbulk, heavy-lift and project cargo between Asia and Europe with multipurpose tweendeckers whose box-shaped holds handled lifts of up to 500 tonnes. With the new ships it plans to move to a flexible tramp service worldwide, carrying cargoes that range from steel products, rolling stock and floating stock to power generation equipment, wind energy components, offshore cables and port cranes.
"We are seeing increasing demand from our customers for shorter transit times and direct access to ports and destinations with draft and infrastructure limitations," said Maximilian Fischer, general manager of Asia Break Bulk. He said the ships are designed to take long, heavy and complex cargoes directly to destinations beyond the typical liner hubs, avoiding transshipments that add time, cost and risk.
The newbuildings will strengthen the carrier side of COLI Group, which combines a network of breakbulk and project cargo brokers with freight forwarding and carrier services, and which has offices in South Korea, Japan, China, Istanbul and São Paulo alongside Singapore and Hamburg. "Building long-term partnerships is a decision you take with a long horizon in mind," said Felix Peinemann, managing director of COLI Group.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 3 November 2026.
