Evergreen Group Orders Ten 8000 TEU vessels
Evergreen Group has placed orders with Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd in Taipei for ten 8,000-TEU L-class environmentally advanced container vessels. The first vessel is due for delivery in 2012 and will join Evergreen Line global containership fleet. Six of the new vessels will be built for Evergreen Marine Corporation and four for Evergreen International S.A. (Panama). The ships are being built at a cost of $103m each. The new ships will be constructed under the innovative Greenship design concept developed by Evergreen Group Chairman Dr. Chang Yung-Fa nearly 10 years ago and first introduced in 2003. The highly developed features have been built into every Evergreen Line vessel since then. The Greenship program has taken environmental protection and compliance to a superior level.
The L-type ships will ensure Evergreen will meet the Group's fleet reinforcement program, as well as provide replacement requirements. With an overall length of 334.8 meters (1100 feet) and a beam of 45.8 meters (150 feet), the new ships will have cruise speed of 24.5 knots. With fuel-saving features and a highly efficient operation are designed to provide shippers punctual delivery service.
The ten ships are the beginning of a program of a new generation of container vessels that will be ordered by Evergreen Line from several shipbuilding yards in Asia. Details of the entire program will be made public as the company, founded in 1968, continues to negotiate both the price and the technological capability of the shipyards to meet the carrier's very strict standards of environmental protection and fuel conservation.
"Evergreen's long-time commitment to environmental excellence takes yet another step forward with these newbuildings," said Bronson Hsieh, Evergreen Vice Group Chairman and Chairman of Evergreen Marine Corporation. "The emphasis on fuel conservation will work reduce the carbon footprint we leave on this green earth."