Hatsu takes delivery of two more “green” ships
Hatsu Marine, the United Kingdom-based affiliate of the Evergreen group, has taken delivery of two more post-Panamax “green” container vessels.The 8,063-TEU vessel “Hatsu Crystal” was delivered May 12 and is being deployed on the weekly Asia/Europe/Mediterranean CEM service with parent Evergreen Marine and sister carrier Italia Marittima.
The “Hatsu Smile” is a 7,024-TEU capacity ship that joined the Evergreen group’s weekly West Coast of North America/Asia/North Europe WAE pendulum service in June.
The vessels are the last of a series of four “S”-type vessels being built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan for delivery to Hatsu. Another six will be delivered to Evergreen.
All 10 of the vessels in the series have been designed with environment-friendly features such as: a double-skin hull; a main fuel tank that sits inside columns of containers to prevent oil leakage in an accident; a self-containing bilge pump; and the capability to hook up to electrical shore-side power when docked.
The ships also have reserve fuel tanks that allows them to run on low-sulfur fuel, a provision that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is trying to mandate for all new containerships arriving in the United States.
“We should not wait for legislation to be introduced. We should use the latest technology as soon as it is available so as to minimize the impact of container shipping operations both on marine life and on port communities,” said Evergreen group founder Yung-Fa Chang.
