APL Receives Largest, Most Advanced Vessel

APL’s largest and newest vessel is also its most environmentally-friendly and fuel-efficient.

The Singapore-based carrier says the 10,700-TEU APL Southampton, which called on the Port of Singapore on her maiden voyage today, has been fitted with a ballast water treatment system and an electronically-controlled main engine, signalling a new era of sustainable ships entering its fleet.

“We are modernising our fleet with more sustainable and more efficient ships,” said APL President Kenneth Glenn. “All our new vessels coming onstream hereon will have better technology and more advanced features as we continue to pursue our environmental agenda relentlessly.”

APL says it will deploy 30 more new vessels in the next three years. They will significantly curb CO2 emissions, with an Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) that is nearly 30% greater than what is required by the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO). APL has announced that it will reduce carbon emissions 30% by 2015.

The installation of ballast water treatment technology on APL ships is in line with the framework provided in the IMO’s Ballast Water Management Convention, which will enter into force 12 months after ratification by 30 states, representing 35 per cent of world merchant shipping tonnage.

Ships carry ballast water to ensure stability and optimal trim, as well as to reduce stresses on the hull. A problem arises when the discharge of ballast water from vessels transfers organisms between different marine ecosystems, threatening ecological balance and global biodiversity.