MUKADDES KALKAVAN is a Turkish-built feeder containership delivered in 2008 for Turkon Line and constructed by Sedef Shipbuilding at Tuzla, Istanbul.
Built to the Sedef 1800 design, the vessel has spent almost her entire career connected with the Turkish Kalkavan / Turkon shipping interests, although she temporarily traded under the names TIMUCIN A and NILEDUTCH OSPREY.
With a nominal capacity of approximately 1,849 TEU, a deadweight of 26,811 tonnes and a MAN B&W main engine developing 13,280 kW, MUKADDES KALKAVAN was designed as a relatively fast feedermax containership for regional and transatlantic liner services.
Despite being built in 2008, the vessel remains commercially active in 2026.
Vessel Details
Current Name: MUKADDES KALKAVAN
Former Names: NILEDUTCH OSPREY, TIMUCIN A
IMO: 9365829
MMSI: 538005042
Call Sign: V7AP5
Type: Container Ship / Feedermax Containership
Flag: Marshall Islands
Port of Registry: Majuro
Built: 2008
Builder: Sedef Gemi Endüstrisi A.Ş., Tuzla, Istanbul, Turkey
Yard Number: 151
Design: Sedef 1800
Keel Laid: 11 April 2007
Launched: 18 December 2007
Delivered: 13 March 2008
Historical Owner / Operator: Turkon / Kalkavan interests
Registered Owner during later Turkon period: TRK Shipping Ltd.
Manager / Operator: Turkon Container Transportation & Shipping
Class: American Bureau of Shipping – ABS
Length Overall: approx. 182.98 m
Length Between Perpendiculars: approx. 171.00 m
Beam: 28.00 m
Depth: approx. 16.10 m
Summer Draught: approx. 11.00 m
Gross Tonnage: 21,092 GT
Net Tonnage: approx. 8,600–8,800 NT
Deadweight: 26,811 t
Container Capacity: approx. 1,849 TEU
Reefer Plugs: approx. 272
Ice Class: 1C
Main Engine: MAN B&W 8S50MC-C
Main Engine Power: 13,280 kW
Engine Speed: approx. 127 rpm
Propulsion: Single screw
Service / Maximum Speed: approx. 19.5–20 knots
Scrubber: Fitted
Current Status: Active
Built in Turkey
MUKADDES KALKAVAN was constructed at Sedef Shipbuilding's Tuzla yard as hull number 151.
Her keel was laid on 11 April 2007, she was launched on 18 December 2007, and delivery followed on 13 March 2008.
The vessel formed part of Sedef's 1800-series containership design, developed around a capacity of approximately 1,850 TEU.
The same basic design was subsequently used for several other Turkish-built containerships connected with the Kalkavan group, including vessels such as:
CAFER DEDE
IBRAHIM DEDE
MUSTAFA DAYI
NEVZAT KALKAVAN
and
KAAN KALKAVAN
MUKADDES KALKAVAN was therefore part of an important programme of locally built containership tonnage for Turkish shipping interests.
Maiden Voyage in 2008
The newly delivered vessel began trading almost immediately after completion.
On 30 March 2008, only around two weeks after delivery, MUKADDES KALKAVAN was photographed at Felixstowe, United Kingdom, during her maiden voyage.
Detailed photographs taken aboard the ship at Felixstowe provide an unusually complete record of her machinery and bridge arrangements while virtually brand new.
They confirm her original main engine as:
MAN B&W 8S50MC-C
producing:
13,280 kW at approximately 127 rpm
The engine was connected to a single fixed-pitch propeller and gave the vessel a service speed close to 20 knots.
Container Capacity
MUKADDES KALKAVAN was designed around a nominal capacity of approximately:
1,849 TEU
Some databases round this figure to 1,845, 1,850 or 1,880 TEU, depending on the source and calculation method.
The ship also has approximately:
272 reefer connections
allowing refrigerated containers to form a significant part of her cargo intake.
With a deadweight of 26,811 tonnes, she occupies the feedermax / small regional liner segment rather than the much larger mainline containership categories that became increasingly dominant after her construction.
MUKADDES KALKAVAN → TIMUCIN A
The vessel retained her original name for the first three years of her career.
In August 2011, she was renamed:
TIMUCIN A
The change proved relatively short-lived.
While operating as TIMUCIN A, the vessel suffered a significant machinery incident on 17 November 2011 near Aliağa, Turkey.
An engine failure left the ship requiring assistance, and she was subsequently taken under tow toward Tuzla.
Records indicate that she reached the Tuzla anchorage on 20 November, shifted to a shipyard the following day and remained there while repairs were undertaken.
Return to MUKADDES KALKAVAN
In November 2012, TIMUCIN A reverted to her original name:
MUKADDES KALKAVAN
The vessel subsequently transferred from the Turkish register to the:
Marshall Islands flag
in 2013.
Her later identity became:
Port of Registry: Majuro
Call Sign: V7AP5
MMSI: 538005042
with TRK Shipping Ltd. recorded as registered owner and Turkon continuing as operator / manager.
The basic name history therefore reads:
MUKADDES KALKAVAN → TIMUCIN A → MUKADDES KALKAVAN → NILEDUTCH OSPREY → MUKADDES KALKAVAN
NILEDUTCH OSPREY
Another charter-related identity appeared in November 2016.
MUKADDES KALKAVAN was renamed:
NILEDUTCH OSPREY
reflecting employment connected with NileDutch, the liner operator historically specialising in trades between Europe, West Africa and other regional markets.
The ship retained the name for a little over a year.
In February 2018, NILEDUTCH OSPREY reverted once again to:
MUKADDES KALKAVAN
The vessel therefore returned to Piraeus-area waters in 2018 carrying the same name under which she had originally entered service ten years earlier.
Piraeus Connection
MUKADDES KALKAVAN has a directly documented connection with Piraeus through PiraeuShips.
PiraeuShips published its dedicated MUKADDES KALKAVAN entry in April 2018, shortly after the vessel had reverted from NILEDUTCH OSPREY to her original name.
At that time the vessel was recorded as:
Flag: Marshall Islands
IMO: 9365829
MMSI: 538005042
Gross Tonnage: 21,092 GT
Deadweight: 26,811 t
Length: approx. 182 m
Beam: 28 m
Class: American Bureau of Shipping
Owner / Manager: Turkon Line
The footage is particularly useful historically because it documents the vessel immediately after the end of her NILEDUTCH OSPREY charter identity and at the beginning of the latest MUKADDES KALKAVAN chapter.
Long-Term Turkon Employment
Unlike many containerships of similar age that moved repeatedly between unrelated owners, MUKADDES KALKAVAN remained closely connected with Turkon and the Kalkavan shipping interests throughout almost her entire commercial life.
Turkon employed the vessel in several regional and deep-sea liner networks.
During the later years of her Turkon career, she became particularly associated with the company's USM service, linking Turkey and Mediterranean ports with the United States East Coast.
Typical ports within this trading pattern have included:
Mersin
Ambarlı / Istanbul
Nemrut Bay
Algeciras
New York
Norfolk
and
Savannah
The ship's relatively high service speed and approximately 1,850-TEU capacity made her suitable for this type of longer-distance niche liner operation.
Qualship 21
The vessel has also maintained a relatively strong recent inspection record.
MUKADDES KALKAVAN was included in the United States Coast Guard's Qualship 21 programme, which recognises qualifying foreign-flag ships with a record of good compliance in United States waters.
Her Qualship 21 certification was listed as valid into 2027.
Port State Control records also show inspections in the United States during 2026, including at Savannah and Staten Island, without detention.
For a containership approaching twenty years of age, this provides useful evidence that the vessel continued to be maintained for demanding liner employment.
Reported Sale to MSC
A major change in the ship's ownership story emerged at the end of 2025.
Shipbrokers reported that Turkon had agreed to sell:
MUKADDES KALKAVAN
together with the slightly newer sister vessel:
NEVZAT KALKAVAN
to buyers associated with Mediterranean Shipping Company – MSC.
The reported price was approximately:
USD 17 million per vessel
or:
USD 34 million en bloc
for the pair.
The transaction was notable because MUKADDES KALKAVAN was already around 17 years old, yet still achieved a substantial second-hand value during a strong containership market.
Broker reports also described her as:
1,849 TEU
Ice Class 1C
and
scrubber fitted.
Forward Delivery
The reported MSC transaction did not necessarily mean immediate physical delivery.
Contemporary shipping-market reports specifically indicated that the ships were expected to be delivered forward, well into 2026, allowing Turkon to continue employing them while larger newbuildings were prepared to replace them.
This distinction is important when following the vessel's present status.
Still MUKADDES KALKAVAN in September 2026
Despite the reported sale agreement, the vessel was still publicly operating as MUKADDES KALKAVAN in September 2026.
AIS and liner-schedule information continued to show:
Name: MUKADDES KALKAVAN
Flag: Marshall Islands
MMSI: 538005042
and employment on the:
Turkon USM service
In early September 2026, the vessel sailed from the US East Coast, calling at New York, Norfolk and Savannah before beginning the eastbound Atlantic crossing toward Mersin.
She departed Savannah on 6 September 2026, with Mersin reported as her destination.
Therefore, although a sale to MSC interests was reported in December 2025, the vessel had not yet visibly adopted an MSC identity or new name by September 2026.
Until physical delivery and registry changes are confirmed, the most accurate current description remains MUKADDES KALKAVAN operating under her established Marshall Islands identity.
Eighteen Years in Service
By September 2026, MUKADDES KALKAVAN had completed more than 18 years of commercial operation.
Her career has included:
Turkish ownership and operation
North European liner trades
Transatlantic services
temporary charter identities
West African-related employment as NILEDUTCH OSPREY
and long-term trading between Turkey and the United States.
Despite the enormous growth in average containership size since her delivery in 2008, ships of the approximately 1,800–1,900 TEU feedermax segment continue to have considerable commercial utility.
The reported USD 17 million sale price in late 2025 illustrates that continued demand.
PiraeuShips Record
MUKADDES KALKAVAN was recorded by PiraeuShips in 2018 shortly after the vessel had reverted from NILEDUTCH OSPREY to her original name. Built at Sedef Shipbuilding in Tuzla in 2008, the 1,849-TEU containership has spent almost her entire career connected with Turkon and the Kalkavan shipping interests. She temporarily traded as TIMUCIN A between 2011 and 2012 and as NILEDUTCH OSPREY between 2016 and 2018 before twice returning to her original name. In December 2025, MUKADDES KALKAVAN and sister ship NEVZAT KALKAVAN were reported sold en bloc to buyers associated with MSC for approximately USD 34 million. Nevertheless, as of September 2026 she continued to trade as MUKADDES KALKAVAN on Turkon's Turkey–US East Coast service, making the PiraeuShips footage a record of a vessel that has now remained commercially active for more than eighteen years.
Original video footage © PiraeuShips. All rights reserved.
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