In consecutive months this year the world record for the largest boxship afloat has already been broken three times. The christening on Friday of the OOCL Hong Kong saw the Tung family-controlled company take the mantle. At 21,413 teu in capacity, the 383 m long ship has 845 more slots than the Madrid Maersk, which delivered last month in the process surpassing the MOL Triumph in the size stakes.
saw the Tung family-controlled company take the mantle. At 21,413 teu in capacity, the 383 m long ship has 845 more slots than the Madrid Maersk, which The OOCL Hong Kong is the first in a series of giant boxships being built for OOCL at Samsung Heavy Industries.
C C Tung, OOCL’s chairman, described his new ship as a “titan among containerships at sea”.
“While our industry seems to have the knack to out do one another in building larger containerships relatively quickly these days, this project is nonetheless an important moment for us. Faced with increasing competition and un-ending pressure on costs, we need to take the bold step in operating larger size ships of quality and high efficiency in order to stay relevant and compete effectively as a major container shipping company,” Tung commented.
The last time that OOCL set the world record for the largest containership was back in April 2003 with the OOCL Shenzhen, an 8,063 TEU vessel, also built at Samsung Heavy.
In a survey carried on this site which is set to close today 79% of readers believe a 22,000 teu ship will be ordered soon.
