OOCL christens last G-Class containership

The Hong Kong-based ocean shipping company christened the sixth and last of its 21,413-TEU G-Class mega vessels built by Samsung Heavy Industries.    Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) christened the sixth and last in its latest series of 21,413-TEU containerships on Wednesday.
   Dubbed the OOCL Indonesia, the mega vessel will serve the Asia-Europe trade lane on the LL1 service, along with the other five G-Class ships, OOCL said.
   The port rotation for the 77-day loop is Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Yantian, Singapore, Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Gdansk, Wilhelmshaven, Felixstowe, Singapore, Yantian and back to Shanghai.
   The six vessels, built by Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), were completed within one year, OOCL noted.
   “The flexibility provided in our newbuilding program is one of the crucial elements to how we can better manage our fleet and operations in such a dynamic and challenging industry,” OOCL Chief Executive Andy Tung said. “Not only was the time factor a challenge, but the actual engineering feat in building the world’s largest containerships for the first time within the given period while incorporating the best and latest innovation and technologies is a monumental project not to be underestimated.”
   Tung also said that the christening “marked a wonderful start to the new year in 2018 as the industry is seeing a much healthier global economic environment not seen in many years since the 2009 financial crisis, and that various governments around the world are continuing to fuel the growth momentum with policy agendas to boost trade and economic cooperation.”
   Tung cited the Hong-Kong-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which was signed in November, as an opportunity for trade growth and market expansion.
   “Once ratified, the new FTA arrangements will not only open opportunities for trade growth, but also facilitate more effective and efficient trade links through the elimination of import duties and streamlining of regulations that would inevitably help improve supply chain flow over the long run. In our industry, speed is of essence and we are very excited to see these kinds of policy directions pushing forward,” concluded Tung.