On 21 September 2007 in Dalian, China, Rickmers Group celebrated the naming of the latest addition to its fleet, the 4250TEU container vessel Laranna Rickmers. Anna Sophie Rickmers, daughter of Bertram R C Rickmers, acted as the sponsor of the vessel, the name Laranna being a combination of the names of Mr Rickmers' daughters Lara and Anna. The naming ceremony took place in the presence of Mr Rickmers, a number of Rickmers Reederei’s business partners and customers of Rickmers-Linie.
Under the terms of an eight-year time charter agreement with the French operator CMA CGM, the ship will operate under the name CMA CGM Purple. It will be employed initially in the French company’s PEX1 liner service between China/South Korea and the US East Coast via Panama.
With a length of 244.5m and a Panamax beam of 32.25m, Laranna Rickmers is the 11th vessel out of a series of 21 ordered from Dalian by Rickmers Group in recent years.
Delivered on 28 September, Laranna Rickmers was transferred immediately to Rickmers Maritime in Singapore and will be managed by Rickmers Shipmanagement (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of the Rickmers Group. She started loading in Dalian immediately and sailed on the 29th.
Including ships in operation and vessels under construction, the Rickmers fleet now comprises close to 130 vessels.