Largest Chinese-built containership to make maiden call at L.A.

Largest Chinese-built containership to make maiden call at L.A. The newest vessel in the China Shipping Container Line fleet, and the largest container ship built in China to date, is set to make her maiden call at the Port of Los Angeles Friday, Sept. 21.
   The Xin Ya Zhou, built for China Shipping by the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co. in Shanghai, was launched on May 28 and named in a Sept. 8 ceremony at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard. The vessel, the largest PRC-flagged containership designed and built in China, is the first in a series of five new vessels to join the ocean carrier's fleet of more than 150 vessels.
   The 101,000-deadweight-ton Xin Ya Zhou measures 1,096 feet long and has a service speed of about 25 knots. The vessel, with a designed draft of nearly 43 feet and breadth of more than 140 feet, can accommodate upwards of 8,530 TEUs, including 700 refrigerated containers.
   Following her maiden call at Los Angeles, the ship will join the Shanghai, China-based carrier's weekly Central Asia-America Service with scheduled calls at Los Angeles, Oakland, Ningbo, Nansha, Yantian and Shanghai.