Japan shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K” Line) has ordered five more new ULCVs (ultra-large container vessels) on top of five similar ships it has ordered for deployment next year.
“K” Line said the five additional box ships will have a nominal carrying capacity of 13,870 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) and a scheduled delivery of spring to summer 2018.
The new vessels will serve as replacements in its existing fleet “to further strengthen both efficiency and cost competitiveness” of the carrier’s container ship business, the company stated.
These new-generation eco-friendly vessels will join another five identical sister ships that will go into service beginning spring to summer 2015, bringing the total number of “K” Line’s ULCVs to 10 vessels.
The ULCVs will have an overall length of 365.9 meters, beam of 51.2 meters, and draft of 14 meters, and will be built by Imabari Shipbuilding Co.
OOCL’s temporary revision of Asia-Europe service
On the other hand, Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) announced the temporary revision of its three sailings on the Asia-Loop 4 service between Asia and Europe due to the congestion problem at Rotterdam.
Under the revised plan, port of calls to Rotterdam will be shifted to Antwerp as follows:
The Basle Express 009W/009E will have an actual time of departure (ATD) from Ningbo on August 23 with an expected time of arrival (ETA) at Antwerp on October 1.
The Hamburg Express 011W/011E will have an ATD from Ningbo on September 1 and is expected to arrive at Antwerp on October 8, while the NYK Hermes 006W/006E has an ETD from Ningbo on September 7 and is scheduled to arrive at Antwerp on October 14.
The current port rotation of Loop 4 is Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian, Singapore, Le Havre, Southampton, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Jeddah, Singapore, Yantian, and Ningbo.
