Asia's first 10,050-TEU container vessel, named COSCO Asia,
which is docked at Tianjin Five Continents International
Container Terminal in north China, is set to sail on its maiden
voyage Thursday, along the China-Europe shipping route.
COSCO Asia is the first of four of such mammoth vessels built
for China's Ocean Shipping Group (COSCO), Container Lines by South
Korea's key oceangoing container producer, Hyundai Heavy
Industries' (HHI) yard in Ulsan.
Having a full length of 349 meters, and a width of 45.6 meters,
COSCO Asia can hold a total volume of 140,000 tonnes of containers
with each a twenty-foot equivalent unit box.
The last of the four huge ships in the series made by HHI is
scheduled to be delivered to COSCO by middle of next year.
So far, all of COSCO's container ships of 6,000 TEU and greater
have been built by HHI. Since 2004, five 7,500 TEU ships, three
8,200 TEU ships and five 9,500 TEU ships have joined COSCO's global
fleet. Earlier this year, COSCO signed a long-term charter for
eight 8,500 TEU ships, which will also be built by HHI and will be
delivered starting from 2010.
COSCO Asia docks at Tianjin
Five Continents International Container Terminal in northern China
on August 8, 2007.
(CRIENGLISH.com August 9, 2007)
