Taiwan Launches its Highest-Capacity Container Ships
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
State-backed shipbuilder CSBC Corporation, Taiwan has launched two domestically developed and constructed vessels in the southern Taiwan port city of Kaohsiung, reports Taiwan Today.
YM Window and YM Width are 368 meters long, 51 meters wide and can carry 14,198, 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers. A 40-foot container—the most commonly used size—is around two TEUs.
CSBC Chairman Lai Sun-quae said the vessels are a significant step up from the company’s last batch of 10 container ships produced from 2011 to 2015 that could carry around 8,000 TEUs.
“Window and Width are quieter and more economical,” Lai said. “They are also easier to operate and boast a faster cruising speed of 23.3 nautical miles per hour, a number on par with rival vessels produced in South Korea.”
The improved performance of the ships will help ensure they do not fall prey to pirates off the coast of Somalia as was the case with Maersk Alabama, a vessel of around 1,000 TEUs constructed by CSBC in 1998. “Not many people know it was our ship depicted in the 2013 box office hit ‘Captain Phillips’ starring Tom Hanks,” Lai said.
According to CSBC, the vessels were commissioned by Canada-based Seaspan Corp. under a five-ship lease agreement with Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp.—the world’s 10th largest fleet operator—based in the northern Taiwan port city of Keelung. CSBC expects to complete the remaining three vessels by the end of the year.