In 2007, a containership named Behram Box was first ordered at a Turkish shipyard, originally planned to enter commercial service shortly thereafter. However, soon after the order was signed, a global financial storm brought everything to a halt.

Two decades later, the vessel was finally delivered in 2026 and has officially entered commercial operation, bringing to an end one of the longest-running unfinished projects in Turkish shipbuilding history.

The Behram Box is the first of two sister vessels. As originally planned, both were intended to be delivered shortly after completion for container transport within Europe. However, the global financial crisis that erupted in 2008 dealt a severe blow to the shipping market: freight rates plunged, ship financing became extremely difficult, and a large number of newbuilding orders were either cancelled or indefinitely postponed.

According to Clarkson Research, global new orders in the first three quarters of 2008 alone fell by 27.3% year-on-year, and the wave of cancellations was a rarity in shipbuilding history. Many shipping companies mothballed vessels and cancelled newbuilding orders, while numerous European banks temporarily suspended ship financing operations.

The Turkish shipbuilding industry was not spared. According to Turkish government statistics, after the financial crisis struck, the number of operational shipyards in Türkiye fell by 60%, with a large number of newbuilding orders cancelled. Amid this industry winter, the construction plan for the Behram Box was forced to a halt. After 2012, the hulls of the two vessels fell completely silent and sat idle at the shipyard for the vast majority of the time.

It was not until around 2025 that the market environment underwent a significant shift. As global trade recovered, demand for feeder containerships continued to strengthen, and supply-demand dynamics in the charter market tightened. Against this backdrop, investors decided to revive the long-dormant project, towing the hull from Gölcük to the Dentas shipyard in Tuzla for completion.

According to Alphaliner, the dual drivers behind the project's revival were tight feeder tonnage supply and persistently rising demand for regional container transport.

The Behram Box is a feeder containership with an overall length of approximately 153.6 metres, a container capacity of 917 TEU, and a deadweight of around 10,600 tonnes. The vessel is based on the Volharding 900 design developed by the Dutch shipyard Bodewes Scheepswerf Volharding, a popular feeder ship type in the European regional shipping market that, after years of operational validation, has demonstrated good seakeeping capabilities and operating efficiency.

According to foreign media reports, the actual owner of both vessels is the Turkish EOS Group, a domestic Turkish maritime enterprise with ship repair and shipbuilding facilities in the Tuzla Bay area, operating a fleet of vessels. The completion of the hull construction work was carried out by the Dentas shipyard in Tuzla.

Upon delivery, the Behram Box swiftly entered commercial service. The vessel has been chartered to DP World's Danish feeder shipping company, Unifeeder, and deployed on its Türkiye–Bulgaria shuttle service. The second sister vessel, Numan Box, is also expected to be delivered later this year, after which both vessels will jointly serve the European regional container transport market.