INDEPENDENT CONCEPT, today sailing as MSC GAETA II, is a Liberian-flagged feeder containership built in China in 2007. The vessel spent more than a decade under German management before being sold to Greek feeder specialist Contships Management in 2019 and renamed CONTSHIP SEA. In late 2025, she was sold again, this time to MSC, and entered 2026 service as MSC GAETA II.
The ship was constructed by Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipyard at Jiangyin, China, as yard number YZJ2004-670C. She measures 168.00 metres in length and 25.29 metres in beam, with a gross tonnage of 15,345 GT and deadweight of approximately 20,993–20,994 tonnes. She belongs to the Yangzijiang YZJ 1600 / RichMax 1550 feeder design.
Vessel Details
Current Name: MSC GAETA II
Name at time of PiraeuShips recording: INDEPENDENT CONCEPT
Intermediate Name: CONTSHIP SEA
Original / Early Name: AVA
IMO: 9306213
Current MMSI: 636019225
Former MMSI: 636091351
Call Sign: A8MJ4
Type: Gearless Container Ship / Feeder
Flag: Liberia
Port of Registry: Monrovia
Built: 2007
Delivered: 19 July 2007
Builder: Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipyard, Jiangyin, China
Yard Number: YZJ2004-670C
Design: YZJ 1600 / RichMax 1550
Current Registered Owner: Orellana Oceanway Ltd.
Current Commercial / ISM Manager: MSC Shipmanagement Ltd.
Former Manager: Contships Management Inc.
Earlier Manager: Norddeutsche Reederei H. Schuldt
Current Classification: reported by recent sources as RINA / DNV depending on database update
Length Overall: 168.00 m
Beam: 25.29 m
Draught: approx. 9.85–10.20 m
Gross Tonnage: 15,345 GT
Net Tonnage: 7,838 NT
Deadweight: approx. 20,994 t
Container Capacity: approx. 1,432 TEU operational / up to about 1,579 TEU design figure
Reefer Plugs: approx. 250
Cargo Gear: Gearless
Main Engine: Sulzer/Hudong 7RT-flex60C
Power: approx. 16,520 hp / 12.1 MW
Speed: approx. 20 knots
Current Status: Active
History
The vessel was completed in July 2007. During the construction/very early delivery phase she carried the name AVA, but by July 2007 she had become INDEPENDENT CONCEPT. She then spent almost twelve years under that name.
During the INDEPENDENT CONCEPT period she was managed by Norddeutsche Reederei H. Schuldt of Hamburg, with Peter Döhle-related interests also appearing in historical ownership/operating records. The ship retained the Liberian flag and call sign A8MJ4.
Her name history can now be shown as:
AVA → INDEPENDENT CONCEPT → CONTSHIP SEA → MSC GAETA II
Sale to Contships – 2019
A major change came in February–March 2019, when Athens-based Contships Management Inc. purchased INDEPENDENT CONCEPT together with sister vessel INDEPENDENT ACCORD from German owners. Contships reported that the two ships cost less than US$7 million each.
INDEPENDENT CONCEPT was renamed CONTSHIP SEA, while INDEPENDENT ACCORD became CONTSHIP RUN.
Contships officially described the vessels as approximately 1,432 TEU, 21,000-dwt, 168-metre gearless feeders fitted with 250 reefer plugs. Immediately after acquisition, CONTSHIP SEA was extended to COSCO Shipping for its Piraeus–Black Sea feeder service, strengthening the ship's already significant connection with Piraeus.
Sale to MSC – 2025
The next major chapter came in November 2025. Contships announced that it had agreed to sell CONTSHIP SEA and CONTSHIP RUN to MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company for approximately US$34 million en bloc. The pair had cost Contships only about US$11 million combined six years earlier.
Contships' subsequent financial statements confirm that CONTSHIP SEA was delivered to her new owner on 1 December 2025.
The vessel then became:
MSC GAETA II
By 2026, current databases list Orellana Oceanway Ltd. as registered owner and MSC Shipmanagement Ltd. as commercial and ISM manager.
Importantly, she retained the Liberian flag, MMSI 636019225 and call sign A8MJ4.
Piraeus Connection
The Piraeus connection of IMO 9306213 is exceptionally strong.
As INDEPENDENT CONCEPT, she was photographed departing Drapetsona Bay on 10 June 2015, again at Drapetsona in February 2016 and January 2017, and once more in June 2018.
Your original PiraeuShips entry from February 2017 recorded her as INDEPENDENT CONCEPT with MMSI 636091351, German management and Liberia flag.
After her Greek acquisition in 2019, the relationship became even stronger. CONTSHIP SEA was immediately employed on a COSCO Piraeus–Black Sea feeder service, and she was photographed at Piraeus in May 2019, at Ikonio in 2022 and again departing Perama in September 2025.
Even after becoming MSC GAETA II, current 2026 port-call data still records Piraeus among her Mediterranean calls.
PiraeuShips Record
INDEPENDENT CONCEPT was recorded at Piraeus by PiraeuShips during her German-managed period, several years before the vessel became closely associated with Greek feeder shipping. Sold to Contships Management in 2019 and renamed CONTSHIP SEA, she subsequently became a regular participant in Piraeus-based feeder services. In December 2025 the vessel changed ownership again, joining MSC and becoming MSC GAETA II. The PiraeuShips recording therefore preserves the first of three distinct commercial identities carried by IMO 9306213 during her long relationship with Piraeus.
Original video footage © PiraeuShips. All rights reserved.
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