Evergreen Group held the naming ceremony for EVER LUNAR, the seventh of its L-type vessels to be built by CSBC Corporation in Taiwan. The ceremony, which was officiated by Ms. Lee-Ching Ko, Second Vice Group Chairman of Evergreen Group, took place at CSBC's Kaohsiung shipyard. The official rope-cutting of the new 8,508 TEU vessel was performed by Mrs. Lin, Mei-Chun, the company said in its press release.
EVER LUNAR is owned by Evergreen Marine Corporation (Taiwan) Ltd. The ship is 334.8 meters in length, 45.8 meters wide and has a draft of 14.2 meters. In common with its L-type sister ships, EVER LUNAR can cruise at speeds up to 24.5 knots. The ship will be delivered into service in January and join Evergreen Line's Far East - Arabian Persian Gulf (APG) Service.
Speaking at the ceremony, Ms. Ko said, "Evergreen has taken delivery of six L-type vessels from CSBC, assisting in our on-going fleet renewal program, which is enhancing our competitiveness and operating performance. The name of this new ship is symbolic of a shining outlook for the container shipping market. We are confident that our business can benefit from recent forecast of market growth and that such momentum will contribute to an increase in profitability."
Evergreen Line commenced its fleet renewal program in 2010. The project entailed ordering twenty L-type vessels from Samsung Heavy Industries and another ten units of the same specifications from CSBC. The Samsung building program was concluded in July this year. The delivery of EVER LUNAR will add the 27th such vessel to Evergreen's operating fleet. The remaining three ships will be delivered by the third quarter of 2015 and be balanced by the redelivery of vessels currently on charter when the charter periods expire.