OOCL announced the naming of its latest containership, the OOCL Hong Kong, at a christening ceremony held at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard on Geoje Island. The OOCL Hong Kong was also celebrated as one of the largest containerships in the world by carrying capacity, and will be a welcome addition to strengthening the OOCL fleet this year.

In his ceremonial remarks, C. C. Tung, Chairman of Orient Overseas (International) Limited, addressed the importance of this occasion for the company. “This is a very exciting time for all of us because today marks the first time that OOCL is receiving newbuildings in the 21 thousand TEU size,” he said. “In fact, the OOCL Hong Kong will be a titan among containerships at sea, with a carrying capacity at 21,413 TEU. An important milestone for us at OOCL indeed.”

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 the SHI shipyard.

“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,” said Tung. “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.”

In thanking the shipbuilder and commenting on the business partnership over the years, Tung added: “We are very delighted to be on this journey together with our long-time partner and key shipbuilder of our large size ship fleet,” he said. “1Over the years, we have always appreciated the high quality and reliability of your products, which is absolutely essential for us to providing a top quality service. This is a major undertaking for us to build a containership of this size, requiring a lot of effort, commitment and coordination.”

Tung also expressed his gratitude to DBS Bank for a relationship that has been expanding over the last three years and which financed the building of the OOCL Hong Kong.

The OOCL Hong Kong will be serving the Asia-Europe trade lane on the LL1 service with a port rotation of Shanghai / Ningbo / Xiamen / Yantian / Singapore / via Suez Canal / Felixstowe / Rotterdam / Gdansk / Wilhelmshaven / Felixstowe / via Suez Canal / Singapore / Yantian / Shanghai in a 77-day round trip.