Evergreen Takes Delivery of Two 12,000 TEU Ships
Evergreen Line took delivery of its sixth and seventh new 12,000 TEU class F-type containerships on December 15. Ever Forever was built at the Geoje Shipyard of South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries, and Ever Far was delivered by Imabari Shipbuilding in Japan.
The two new large containerships set sail in good order after the delivery procedures were completed. The ships’ 58,000-horsepower main engines are powering the technically advanced vessels to their allocated loading ports on Evergreen’s trans-Pacific services.
Ever Forever will be put into service on the Asia-U.S. East Coast (AUE) service, which follows a port rotation of Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, through the Panama Canal to Colon Container Terminal in Panama and then to Savannah, New York, Norfolk and Baltimore before heading back to Asia.
Ever Far is deployed on the South China-Taiwan-U.S. West Coast (HTW) route, with a service scope covering Kaohsiung (or Taipei Port in the future), Xiamen, Hong Kong, Yantian, Los Angeles and Oakland.
The F-type containerships have a length of 334 meters, a width of 48.4 meters and a scantling draft of 15.5 meters. The dimensions are within the draft limitations and terminal operation standards of major ports in the U.S. The ship’s hull adopts the twin-island design, in which the navigation bridge is located in the fore section of the ship and the engine room is located semi-aft. This configuration helps to prevent containers on the deck from affecting the view from the bridge and increases cargo loadability.
The optimized hull is designed to reduce wave resistance, decreasing fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The F-type ship is equipped with a facility to remove both sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide exhaust gases; ballast water treatment systems; electric deck machinery; air-sealed stern shaft seals; alternative maritime power (AMP) and other environmental protection features.
Evergreen has introduced the Smart Ship System into the design of the F-type ships, which has been certified by the relevant class societies. This advanced system can provide a full range of valuable information for both the crew and the supervising team ashore, helping to monitor the ship’s operational condition. This assists the crew to conduct safe and timely navigation and maintain trim optimization in accordance with changing weather and sea conditions. The ultimate aims are to reduce fuel consumption, optimize navigational routings and contribute to Evergreen’s green initiatives.
Tonnage in demand
Due to the consequences of COVID-19, the container shipping market has experienced a significant demand to ship sought-after products to help contain the pandemic, and to satisfy the consumers’ changes in life-styles such as working from home. The abrupt market change has led to extremely tight capacity. As the two new ships are entering service, extra space can be provided to meet customers’ eager demand for shipping capacity.
Evergreen Line has already been advancing its fleet enhancement plans. With the addition of these two new vessels, Evergreen has now taken delivery of 16 newly built containerships, including seven F-type ships of 12,000 TEU and nine C-type ships of 1,800 TEU this year. These additions will not only provide more space to meet the demands of shippers, but also ensure more efficient service to facilitate global trade.
Evergreen has another 53 newbuildings to be delivered, including vessels owned by the carrier and ships chartered in. This order book still contains 10 A-type ships of 24,000 TEU, 13 F-type ships of 12,000 TEU, fourteen O-type ships of 2,500 TEU and sixteen C-type ships of 1,800 TEU, all to be delivered by the end of 2022.
With the delivery of these new ships, Evergreen’s fleet renewal program will continue as older ships are gradually phased out and chartered vessels are returned to their owners.