OOCL Hong Kong Christened
Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) announced the naming of its latest containership, the OOCL Hong Kong, at a christening ceremony held at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard on Geoje Island on May 12.
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. 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.”
“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.”
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.