“K” LINE DEPLOYS FIRST POST-PANAMAX SHIP ON ASIA/EUROPE ROUTE
“K” LINE DEPLOYS FIRST POST-PANAMAX SHIP ON ASIA/EUROPE ROUTE
“K” Line will deploy its first post-Panamax containership, the 5,500-TEU “Golden Gate Bridge,” in the Asia/northern Europe trade, starting July 30.
The new vessel, the first in a series of 12 post-Panamax vessels, will join the Japan Express Service of “K” Line and its alliance partners China Ocean Shipping Co. and Yangming Marine Transport.
On this service, the “Golden Gate Bridge” will replace a 4,038-TEU vessel, the “Donau Bridge.” The weekly Japan Express Service currently employs eight vessels with an average capacity of 3,807 TEUs, according to ComPairData, the online global liner shipping database at http://www.compairdata.com.
The other 11 large ships of the series ordered by “K” Line will be delivered by September 2002. They are due to be phased into the carrier’s Asia/Europe and Asia/North America services.
The ships have a length of 280 meters, a width of about 40 meters and a service speed of 25 knots. They are equipped with reefer plugs to carry 500 forty-foot equivalent units of reefer containers.
In operating its first post-Panamax ship, “K” Line has joined the majority of other major container shipping lines that have moved to post-Panamax vessel sizes on the east/west trades.