United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) and Gulftainer, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent port operator based in the UAE, recently marked the maiden call of UASC’s 15,000 TEU M.V. Linah into Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT).
The M.V. Linah is the largest UASC vessel to call at Khorfakkan Port to date, and is one of the ships built as part of UASC’s advanced newbuilding program; worth over US$2.3 billion and comprising 17 ships to be delivered between November, 2014 and 2016, of which 11 are 15,000 TEU vessels and six are 18,800 TEU vessels.
The series of vessels that are part of UASC’s newbuilding program are considered the world’s greenest due to their environmental credentials and technology on-board, being ranked among the best performing carriers based on CO2 emissions in a recent progress report by Business for Social Responsibility’s (BSR) Clean Cargo Working Group.
Waleed Al Dawood, COO at UASC, said: “Today, we are very proud to celebrate the arrival of our 15,000 TEU vessel to KCT with our partner, Gulftainer and a number of our key customers. The arrival of M.V. Linah at Khorfakkan Port is an indicator of KCT’s track-record in maintaining the highest standards of operational efficiency.
Technical Paper: Khorfakkan Container Terminal: Mega-Ship Master
“Today is also an example of the strong ties between Khorfakkan Port, Gulftainer and UASC. Together, we continue to provide our UAE customers with efficient and effective green shipping solutions, with UASC vessels making a significant 428 calls to Khorfakkan in 2015.”
Flemming Dalgaard, CEO at Gulftainer, said: “Gulftainer has made huge strides in improving our capabilities at Khorfakkan, and we thank UASC for their continued confidence in our ability to deliver to their needs.”
To date, UASC has taken delivery of six 18,800 TEU class vessels – Barzan, Al Muraykh, Al Nefud, Al Zubara Al Dahna and Tihama, and seven 15,000 TEU class vessels – Sajir, Al Murabba, Salahuddin, Linah, Al Nasriyah, Al Dhail and Al Mashrab, respectively.
The 15,000 TEU vessels are some of the first in the world to receive an Energy Efficiency Certificate with documented Energy Efficiency Design Index.
