Evergreen Line announced its fifth new, 12,000 TEU class F-type containership, Ever Fortune, was delivered at the Geoje Shipyard of Samsung Heavy Industries on October 30. Upon delivery, the ship was immediately put into service on the Asia-US East Coast (AUE) route, providing urgently needed space for global commerce. This brand-new containership recently completed cargo loading in Ningbo and Xiamen, and berthed at Kaohsiung on November 10. From there, it will proceed to Hong Kong and Yantian, beginning its inaugural voyage, fully loaded, on November 14, the company said in its release.
Ever Fortune will cross the Pacific Ocean and then pass through the Panama Canal as it sails toward Colon Container Terminal in Panama. There it will discharge transhipment cargo en route to the Caribbean and the west coast of South America. It will then head north along the Atlantic coast to the ports of Savannah, New York, Norfolk and Baltimore on the US east coast, delivering sought-after products for epidemic prevention, working from home, and merchandise for the traditional year-end sales season.
US imports from Asia have risen sharply during the third quarter of this year, resulting in extremely tight capacity situation in the market. While many other shipping companies rushed to charter second-hand vessels to meet the capacity demand, Evergreen Line instead had already advanced its fleet enhancement plans. With this delivery, Evergreen has now taken delivery of five newly built 12,000 TEU class F-type containerships since the first quarter of this year, which not only provide more space to meet the demands of shippers, but also ensure more efficient service to transport products and facilitate global trade.
Evergreen has introduced the Smart Ship System to the design of the F-type ship and has been certified by the relevant class societies.
This advanced system can provide a full range of valuable information to enhance the crew’s ability to conduct safe and timely navigation and maintain trim optimization according to changing weather and sea conditions, all designed to reduce fuel consumption, optimize sailing route and contribute to Evergreen’s green initiatives.
This Smart Ship System communicates via satellite to automatically transmit navigation data to Evergreen's data processing center. Utilizing data analysis software, the company’s shore-side ship management teams can monitor the operation and maintenance of shipboard equipment in real time, and also advise the crew when to switch fuel utilization to comply with emission control regulations of different regions.
In addition, these F-type ships are equipped with a surround view imaging system which serves as the seafaring equivalent of an automobile’s driving recorder and backup camera. Located throughout the ship, the video cameras display real-time images on the system screens that dynamically monitor the location of neighboring ships to avoid marine accidents and strengthen blind spot warnings for the bridge to improve the safety of berthing operations.
The F-type containership has a length of about 334 meters, a width of 48.4 meters, a scantling draft of 15.5 meters and a design speed of 23 knots. The ship can carry 19 rows of containers on deck, with a capacity of 12,118 TEU in total. The hull adopts the twin-island design, in which the navigation bridge is located at foreship and the engine room is located semi-aft. This configuration helps to prevent containers on the deck from affecting the view of the bridge and increases cargo loadability.
The optimized design of the ship’s hull reduces wave resistance, decreasing fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The F-type ship is equipped with a sulfur oxide removal facility, a nitrogen oxide removal facility, ballast water treatment systems, electric deck machinery, air-sealed stern shaft seals, alternative maritime power (AMP) and other environmental protection features.
In addition, the exhaust gas system of the main engine and the generator engine are both equipped with a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides. It is one of a limited number of ships that currently meet the most stringent NOx Tier III emission standards set by the International Maritime Organization.
As had been announced, Evergreen ordered eight 12,000 TEU F-type containerships from Samsung Heavy Industries in 2018, and signed a charter party agreement for twelve new ships of the same class with Shoei Kisen Kaisha, for a total of twenty ships. In addition to the five ships currently in operation, one more newbuilding of this type is scheduled to be delivered in December of this year and the remaining fourteen ships are expected to be delivered before the end of 2021 and to serve the Asia - North America markets.