Evergreen has taken delivery of its largest ship – the first of 11 20,150 TEU ultra large container ships (ULCS) ordered from Japanese shipyard Imabari Group in October 2015.
The vessels, which will be delivered over the next 18 months, were ordered through Shoei Kisen, the ship financing arm of Imabari, which will charter them to Evergreen.
Evergreen’s first 20,150 TEU ship Ever Golden joins Ocean Alliance’s NEU3 Asia-Europe sling, which consists of 14,000 TEU box ships.
Alphaliner commented “With an loa of 400 m and a breadth of 59 m (23 rows), Ever Golden and her sister ships will be Evergreen’s largest ships.”
It added that powered by a MAN Diesel & Turbo MAN B&W 11-cylinder G95ME engine rated at 59,250 kW at MCR, the ships can reach a commercial speed of 21 knots.
The markets have been looking up within the container shipping sector – but the large number of ULCSs due to be delivered this year is a threat to the delicate recovery that started last year.
According to VesselsValue data, 71 ULCSs with a total capacity of 1.2M TEU are due to be delivered this year. This is the highest volume on record for ULCS deliveries – and vastly outstrips the ULCSs due to be delivered next year (20 at a total TEU of 376,300) and in 2020 (24 at a combined 466,450 TEU). It also towers over the 467,291 TEU delivered last year.
BRL Consultants chief executive Barry Luthwaite told Container Shipping & Trade “The hunger for competitive advantage is increasing and more orders will be seen.”
He singled out Japan as playing a significant part in construction of ULCSs, especially at Imabari, which built Ever Golden.
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.