In OOCL’s series of six ‘G Class’ containerships on order at the Samsung Heavy Industry (SHI) shipyard, the Company introduced yesterday the newest and fifth 21,413 TEU containership, named the OOCL Scandinavia.
The OOCL Scandinavia will be joining her sister vessels on OOCL’s LL1 service, linking major markets in China and Northern Europe together.
“In commemoration of this milestone at OOCL, we are very honored that Mr. Yue Yi, Vice Chairman, Executive Director and Chief Executive of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd, was able to join us as our Guest of Honor and witness the christening of the vessel.”
“The Bank of China is one of the finest and most respected international financial institutions in the industry and their support to OOCL has been tremendous, allowing us to be the best that we can be in providing quality transportation and logistics services around the world, but particularly in China, where OOCL launched and pioneered the reefer-on-rail services from Xian to Qingdao in 1998, the first of its kind in the country.”
As an active industry player in this vibrant market, facilitating trade and exploring new opportunities, OOCL was front and center in witnessing China’s remarkable growth momentum to become one of the world’s most influential economies today. China is moving towards its next ambitious phase of development by working more closely with its trading partners to realize the One Belt One Road initiative in promoting trade and commerce. In his remarks at the ceremonial event, Mr. C. C. Tung, Chairman of Orient Overseas (International) Ltd., commented on the importance of this initiative and also thanked the Bank of China for their support over the years.
“The One Belt One Road initiative comes at a very important time in the shipping industry where leadership and policy directions to stimulate demand growth is needed most,” said Mr. Tung. “We are in a very capital intensive business, and like the Belt and Road initiative, we cannot do it alone. That is why we are very thankful to have our close business partners by our side in our journey, and we look forward to further deepen our working relationship with the Bank of China in the years ahead.”
Mr. Tung also thanked SHI for their dedication and support to OOCL over the years to consistently build vessels of the highest quality that greatly strengthened the competitiveness of OOCL’s fleet and capability to deliver reliable and efficient services to customers.
“The incredible work that has gone into the construction of this massive containership before us is the perfect embodiment of what teamwork means and how business collaboration can achieve wonders,” said Mr. Tung. “This achievement is about working to bring people and companies of different professions and nationalities together to reach new heights, innovate, solve complicated engineering problems, and along the way, why not break a world record too!”
The OOCL Scandinavia will be joining her sister vessels the OOCL Hong Kong, OOCL Germany, OOCL Japan and OOCL United Kingdom in serving the Asia-Europe trade lane on the LL1 service and her port rotation is:
Shanghai / Ningbo / Xiamen / Yantian / Singapore / via Suez Canal / Felixstowe / Rotterdam / Gdansk / Wilhelmshaven / Felixstowe / via Suez Canal / Singapore / Yantian / Shanghai in a 77-day round trip.
Source: OOCL