Evergreen Marine Corp. (EMC) entered into an agreement with Shoei Kisen Kaisha today to charter twelve 11,000 TEU class containerships, the company said in its press release.
The plans to charter these vessels were approved early last month at the board meetings of Greencompass Marine S.A. and Evergreen Marine (Hong Kong) Ltd. respectively. The two subsidiaries of EMC will each charter six vessels. All twelve ships will be newbuildings and are due to be delivered from the third quarter of 2020 through to the last quarter of 2021.
The ship dimensions are about 333.9 meters in length, 48.4 meters wide, able to carry 11,850 TEU with a deadweight of 127,000 metric tons at a scantling draft of 15.5 meters. The vessels are designed to sail at a service speed of 23 knots and can pass through the Panama Canal.
The ship’s length over all is shorter than those of ultra-large containerships currently plying the Asia – Europe trade, making it easier to manoeuver the ships during berthing or departure and bringing greater flexibility in fleet deployment.
The newbuildings’ design will also adopt a twin-island concept, separating wheelhouse and accommodation block from the engine room and funnel area. This arrangement increases navigational visibility as well as the permissible height of container stacks on deck and therefore the cargo loading capacity.
In addition, the ships are specially designed to enable the loading of 40 foot containers on top of two 20 foot units; also known as "Russian stowage" or "mixed stowage". Such arrangement can not only increase the vessel’s loading flexibility but also maximize cargo-carrying capability.
Evergreen Line’s current operating fleet incorporates around 200 containerships with a total capacity above 1.1 million TEU. To further enhance service quality and competitiveness, the carrier is continuing its fleet renewal program. With delivery of these newbuildings, Evergreen will redeliver older tonnage upon expiry of their charter agreements. In this way, the efficiency of its operating fleet will be optimized and the competitiveness of its services enhanced.