Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has recently christened its latest mammoth newbuilding, a 21,413-TEU vessel that will be deployed on the Asia-Europe trade lane.
The mega container ship, named OOCL Germany, is the second of six over 21,000-TEU-class vessels on order from the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard on Geoje Island, South Korea, that are seen to enhance the competitiveness and efficiency of OOCL’s fleet. The first of this set to be delivered, the OOCL Hong Kong, was christened May 12 this year.
OOCL Germany and her sister vessels are designed with many advanced green features that can help meet future environmental requirements, said the box shipping liner in a release, said the statement. The energy efficiency of these containerships not only satisfies the current Energy Efficiency Design Index baseline requirement, but is 48% better than the EEDI level required by the International Maritime Organization in 2025, it added.
“The state-of-the-art technologies in these newbuildings are truly pushing boundaries,” said Andy Tung, chief executive officer of OOCL, during his commemorative remarks at the naming ceremony. “As a ship owner, meeting environmental requirements are important considerations when working with the shipyard to ensure that we can make the vessel as ‘future proof’ as possible, particularly how we are seeing environmental standards and requirements becoming more and more stringent in the industry over the years.”
The OOCL Germany will be serving the Asia-Europe trade lane on the LL1 service on a 77-day round trip. Her port rotation is Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Yantian, Singapore, via Suez Canal, Felixstowe, Rotterdam,Gdansk, Wilhelmshaven, Felixstowe, via Suez Canal, Singapore, Yantian, and Shanghai.
Last month, it was announced that Cosco Shipping Holdings, the fourth biggest container shipping liner, has offered to buy Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas (International) Limited, the seventh largest container shipping company and parent to OOCL, for HKD49.23 billion (US$6.30 billion). If the deal is closed, it would make state-run Chinese carrier Cosco the third largest container shipping corporation in the world.
Photo courtesy of OOCL
