The joint venture between Nova Marine and Algoma doubles its investment with China’s Xinle Shipbuilding. The second newbuilding, fully methanol-powered, will start operating for Holcim in 2027. Nova Algoma — the joint venture between Lugano-based Nova Marine, controlled by the Romeo and Gozzi families, and Canada’s Algoma Central Corporation, a specialist in cement transport — has decided to double its investment with Chinese yard Xinle Shipbuilding in Ningbo by ordering a second record-breaking cement carrier.
As with the first vessel, ordered in July 2024, this newly contracted unit will be the world’s largest pneumatic cement carrier, with a deadweight of 38,000 tonnes. However, unlike its sister ship, which features dual-fuel methanol propulsion, the newbuild will be fully methanol-powered — designed and constructed to run exclusively on green methanol. This solution will allow the vessel to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 60% compared to a conventionally fuelled ship, for the same volume of cement carried. That translates into an estimated 180,000 tonnes of CO2 avoided over ten years of operation.
Scheduled for delivery in 2027, the new vessel will operate on behalf of Holcim — one of the world’s leading building materials producers — under a ten-year time charter agreement already signed. Both Nova Algoma and Holcim are signatories of the Sea Cargo Charter, an initiative that brings together shipowners and charterers committed to cutting emissions, improving transparency in reporting, and actively promoting shipping
decarbonization as part of a shared environmental responsibility toward a more sustainable maritime industry. “This is a milestone project for Nova Marine,” commented Vincenzo Romeo, CEO of the Swiss-Italian shipping and logistics group. “It reflects our concrete and ongoing commitment to renewing our fleet in key segments and to achieving genuine sustainability in maritime transport and logistics.”