Chipolbrok Launches First 37,450 DWT Vessel in New Heavy Lift Series as Fleet Expansion Accelerates to 10 Ships

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Chipolbrok, the Chinese Polish joint venture carrier, launched the MV Wyspiański on May 20 at the ZPMC shipyard in Qidong, China, marking the debut of a new class of multipurpose heavy lift vessels purpose built for the booming offshore wind and project cargo markets.

The 37,450 deadweight tonnage vessel is the first in a series of at least four ships under construction at Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries, the world’s largest supplier of port equipment now expanding into heavy lift vessel construction. A sister ship, the MV Chełmoński, was launched just days earlier, signaling that production on the series is advancing rapidly.

The Wyspiański class introduces a forward mounted superstructure, a layout that shifts the accommodation block to the bow and frees up maximum cargo deck space for oversized industrial equipment. At 182 metres long with a beam of 30 metres and a design draft of 11.1 metres, the vessels are built around three 350 tonne deck cranes capable of tandem lifts of up to 700 tonnes.

That lifting capacity positions the new class squarely in the sweet spot for transporting wind turbine components, offshore structures, refinery columns, and power generation equipment. The service speed of 14.5 knots is in line with standard multipurpose heavy lift tonnage on intercontinental trade lanes.

Two additional vessels in the same series are already at various stages of construction at the Qidong yard, bringing the confirmed total for this class to four.

The launch comes amid an unprecedented building program at Chipolbrok, which was founded in 1951 as a joint venture between the Chinese and Polish governments and is one of the oldest deep sea carriers in the multipurpose segment. The company currently operates a fleet of 32 vessels with a combined capacity exceeding 1.2 million deadweight tonnes.

Earlier this month, the carrier took delivery of the MV Kopernik, the eighth and final unit in its 62,000 DWT multipurpose series built at Taizhou Kouan Shipbuilding. That vessel, equipped with cranes capable of 300 tonne tandem lifts, has already been deployed on wind energy and infrastructure routes.

In January 2026, Chipolbrok signed a separate contract for six additional 60,800 DWT multipurpose heavy lift vessels at Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering, with options for four more. Those ships will feature 200 tonne cranes with 400 tonne tandem capacity, bow thrusters for improved port maneuverability, and designs optimized for wind energy component transport. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in November 2027.

Taken together, the carrier has confirmed that 10 new multipurpose freighters are set to join its fleet over the next two to three years.

The aggressive renewal program reflects growing global demand for specialized heavy lift and project cargo capacity, driven in large part by the offshore and onshore wind energy buildout in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Multipurpose carriers with high crane capacities and unobstructed deck space are increasingly competing for long term contracts to move turbine blades, nacelles, tower sections, and foundation structures that conventional tonnage cannot handle.

Chipolbrok has also been expanding its commercial presence in Europe. Between January and May 2026, the carrier executed seven departures from major Italian ports including Marghera, Marina di Carrara, Genoa, and Civitavecchia, loading heavy project cargo such as reactors, transformers, and turbines alongside commercial shipments.

The naming tradition for the new vessels continues to draw on distinguished Polish cultural figures. Stanisław Wyspiański was a leading dramatist, poet, and painter of the Polish modernist movement, best known for his work “Wesele” (The Wedding). Józef Chełmoński was a celebrated realist painter recognized for his depictions of rural life and nature.

Market estimates have placed the cost of the ZPMC built vessels at just under USD 50 million per unit. For ZPMC, the Chipolbrok order represented its entry into the heavy lift vessel construction market, diversifying beyond its dominant position in port crane and terminal equipment manufacturing.