The container shipping market will soon receive new capacity as the first Japanese-built 20,170 TEU, named MOL Truth, is set to join the fleet.
The 400-meter-long ultra large container vessel (ULCV) was christened on October 25 at Imabari Shipbuilding’s Saijo yard in Japan. It is the first of two vessel giants ordered by Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) in early 2015.
The duo was ordered as part of a deal for six 20,000 TEU containerships, with two of them assigned to Imabari and the remaining four to South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI).
Delivered on October 31, MOL Truth is the fifth in a series of six 20,000+ TEU vessels. It will be deployed in THE Alliance’s Asia- Northern Europe service.
The sixth and final vessel in the series is under construction at Imabari Shipbuilding’s Marugame Shipyard and is slated for delivery in January 2018.
MOL earlier informed that the Imabari-built boxship would be chartered out to Japan-based liner company Shoei Kisen Kaisha.
According to the Panama Maritime Authority’s Minister for Maritime Affairs, Jorge Barakat Pitty, MOL Truth is the first Japanese 20,000 TEU containership to carry the Panamanian flag.
The eco-friendly ULCV has an array of energy-saving equipment, including a special rudder, to enhance propulsion performance and reduce CO2 emissions.
World Maritime News Staff; Image Courtesy: Panama Maritime Authority