SINOPACIFIC christens its new Ultramax CROWN63® “Sinica Graeca”
On Thursday, May 14 SINOPACIFIC Shipbuilding Group (SINOPACIFIC) held a christening ceremony at its Dayang Shipyard for a newly built Ultramax CROWN 63®, the Group's press release said.
As the Godmother, Madam Grace Yang, the wife of former Chinese Ambassador to Greece christened this new vessel as “SINICA GRAECA”, which is written in Latin (“SINICA” means “China” in old Greek) and symbolizes the great Chinese and Greek cultures. Representatives from the Ship owner, Government, bank, classification societies, supervision teams, suppliers, brokers and the media participated in the ceremony and gave their sincere blessing to the SINICA GRAECA and all who sail on her.
SINICA GRAECA is the first of a series of 4 bulk carriers contracted by Angelakos (Hellas) S.A., a prominent and respected Greek shipping company. It is also the first time for Angelakos (Hellas) to ink an order with a Chinese shipbuilder. Mr. Evangelos Angelakos, Chairman of the company and his team, as well as his family, were present at the christening ceremony.
Chairman Angelakos has been for 16 years (1998-2014) the Mayor of Oinoussai Islands, Greece, which is famous for its prowess in shipping and is located in the area believed to be the hometown of Ancient Greek poet Homer on the crossroads between Asia and Europe. It is ocean shipping that has connected China with Oinoussai, from where a great number of well-known ship-owners originate. Mr. Angelakos has a long lasting love for China and he even had an Ode commissioned in ancient Greek language for the Beijing Olympic Games, which has been told from mouth to mouth with general approval among political circles sporting circles in both countries. Mr. Angelakos believes that cooperation in the shipping industry between Greece and China, both famous for their ancient civilizations, will play an active role in building the new order of the world.
The newly built CROWN 63® vessel, which is SINOPACIFIC’s own brand bulk carrier designed by GreenSeas, a branch of SINOPACIFIC specializing in merchant ship design, has gained enormous popularity worldwide. In order to strengthen its competitiveness and value in the market, CROWN 63® design has focused on optimizing technology and innovation in the following three areas: a significant decrease in fuel consumption; reduction in total weight to create a ‘light-ship’ and a mechanical and electrical configuration with a focus on environmental protection.
CROWN 63® meets with all the requirements of the latest international conventions and norms, including CSR and PSPC. In order to conform to so many "constraints", the design job has been likened to "dancing with shackles on". The design team carried out a thorough analysis of international rules, and, with an idea cost control of the entire project, proposed extremely forward-looking technical solutions to the ship’s system design and configuration. At the same time, the team also took into account the need for future modifications to meet with the implementation of new rules and offered ship-owners a detailed technical feasibility assessment to prepare well for that.
Mr. Simon Liang, Chairman and CEO of SINOPACIFIC, said: “The essence of detail is determined by uncompromising efforts. We cherish details, and we cherish trust worldwide even more. I’m very proud to say that the vessel to be delivered is an example of what people who desire to do great things can achieve when they unite with respect for their differences with a professional and positive attitude to working and cooperating together.”