Yang Ming and “K” Line order eight 8,000-TEU mega-ships

Yang Ming and “K” Line order eight 8,000-TEU mega-ships

Yang Ming and “K” Line order eight 8,000-TEU mega-ships

   Taiwan’s Yang Ming Marine Transport and Tokyo-based “K” Line have joined the growing group of shipowners who have ordered the new generation of very large containerships of 8,000 TEUs.
   The two Asian alliance partners said in related announcements on Monday that they have each ordered four ships of about 8,000 TEUs expected to be delivered from 2006 onwards. All ships will operate in the Asia/Europe trade, where they will be utilized in Yang Ming’s and “K” Line’s joint services.
   Yang Ming said that its four 8,000-TEU ships will be 335 meters long and 42.8 meters wide, with a speed of 25.6 knots. “K” Line said that its four mega-ships will have a capacity of    8,120 TEUs, a speed of 24.5 knots, a length of 336 meters, a width of 45.8 meters and a draft of 13 meters. This implies that the “K” Line’s ships will be wider, but shallower, than the largest containerships currently afloat.
   “K” Line ordered its mega-ships from the Japanese shipyard    I.H.I. Marine United Inc. “The 8,000-TEU type vessels will be the largest sized containerships built in Japan,” the Japanese shipping line said. It added that complete details of vessel specifications are to be “further fine-tuned.”
   “K” Line and Yang Ming have been cooperating in their vessel order plans as part of their global alliance, the CKHY grouping with COSCO Container Lines, Hanjin Shipping and Senator Lines.
   “K” Line also announced that it has ordered five ships of 5,500-TEU capacity from Hyundai Heavy Industries, of South Korea. The total order of nine large ships by “K” Line follows the company’s recent forecast that it would nearly double its group net profit in the current financial year, to 30 billion yen ($250 million), partly thanks to the turnaround of its container division.
   Besides Yang Ming and “K” Line, other major containership operators that have ordered 8,000-TEU-type vessels include China Shipping, CMA CGM, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd, Mediterranean Shipping Co., OOCL, P&O Nedlloyd and Maersk Sealand.