Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) bared plans to expand its ultra-large container vessel fleet, while compatriot Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K” Line) intends to do the opposite and reduce the number of its box ships.
For third Japanese carrier Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), it is seeking to expand its service network linking Japan to Southeast Asia.
MOL said it has signed a deal for the construction of four 20,000-TEU container ships with Samsung Heavy Industries of South Korea. It also concluded an MOU for long-term chartering of two 20,000-TEU container ships with Shoei Kisen Kaisha of Japan, the ships to be built by Imabari Shipbuilding.
To serve the Asia-Europe trade, the six ULCVs will each have a capacity of 20,150 TEUs and be launched and delivered in 2017.
They will have a length of 400 meters, breadth of more than 58 meters, a designed draft of 14.5 meters, and a load draft of 16 meters.
The newbuildings will adopt various highly advanced energy-saving technologies, which will further reduce fuel consumption and cost, in comparison with 14,000-TEU types that MOL currently operates. The main engines have the specifications which enable LNG use as fuel in future remodeling.
‘K’ Line’s medium-term strategy
On the other hand, “K” Line in its new medium-term management plan which runs for five years from April 2015 said it will remove focus away from the challenging container shipping industry and beef up its LNG and LPG carrier businesses.
Under its fleet upgrading plan, box ships by the end of 2017 will number 66 from 70 at the end of 2014, and will be further reduced to 61 by the end of 2019. In contrast, the dry bulk carrier fleet will be expanded from 218 in 2014 to 226 by end-2017 and 239 by end-2019. For LNG carriers, these will be increased from 43 in 2014 to 47 and 61 by the end of 2017 and 2019, respectively.
NYK’s new Japan-SEA loop
NYK, meanwhile, said it is set to expand its service network linking Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The company’s previous service for this area, the Phoenix Service, will be renamed the Phoenix 1 Service, and a new Phoenix 2 Service will be added “to provide a more stable transportation network that meets the increasing demand for container transport between Japan and Southeast Asia.”
This new weekly service will be independently operated by NYK using three 2,700-TEU container ships in late March. Transit time between Kobe and Laem Chabang will be only six days, the fastest in the market, claimed the carrier.
With a 21-day round trip, the loop service will have a port rotation of Tokyo, Yokohama, Shimizu, Nagoya, Kobe, Laem Chabang, Ho Chi Minh, and Tokyo. Its maiden voyage is the NYK Daniela sailing from Laem Chabang on March 28.
For the Phoenix 1 Service, this will deploy three vessels of 1,400-TEU capacity and is a weekly service with a 21-day round trip. It will commence on March 29 with the Cape Ferrol sailing from Bangkok. Ports of call are Osaka, Kobe, Tokyo, Yokohama, Laem Chabang, Bangkok, Laem Chabang, Ho Chi Minh, and Osaka.
Photo: Buonasera
