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Regional Container Lines launches newbuilding Nattha Bhum to supporting sustainable income generation plans in the future
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Thailand-based RCL, a major intra-Asian freight carrier, aims to expand further to markets with high growth potential in Asia such as India, as well as the Middle East and Africa
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The 1,930-TEU Nattha Bhum began its maiden voyage to Laem Chabang on June 21 via Sriracha and the Chinese ports of Nansha, Hong Kong and Shenzhen. It is due to arrive at in the southern Thailand port on Tuesday, July 4
Regional Container Lines (RCL) is accelerating plans to expand its fully Asia-centric service network and eyes Mideast-Africa growth opportunities with support from the launch on June 21 of a new container ship, the Nattha Bhum, at Bangkok Port.
The 1,930-TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) new vessel, valued at more than US$27.25 million, will support RCL’s plans for sustainable income generation in the future, the company said in a statement.
RCL president Twinchok Tanthuwanit said the company aims to further expand its services in regions with high growth potential in Asia – such as in India – as well as in the Middle East and Africa.
Tanthuwanit said RCL is also preparing to invest in new vessels to replace its older fleet, increase its fleet’s capacity to expand its service network, improve revenue growth and sustainability, and focus on environmental conservation and pollution reduction.
Nattha Bhum, which means “Land of the Philosophers,” was named in a ceremony led by Jamlong Atikul, chairman of RCL. The event was graced by Thiraphong Chansiri, president and chief executive of Thai Union Group PCL, and his wife Pornnapa Chansiri, who conducted the naming ceremony as the ship sponsor.
Among the special guests were Kriengkrai Chaisiriwongsuk, director general of Port Authority of Thailand, and RCL’s business partners, who were shown the use of modern tools to reduce pollution and conserve the environment, as well as the efficiency of container ship management.
The Nattha Bhum, built by Chinese shipyard Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., is 172 meters long and 27.5 meters wide. The vessel is importantly a Bangkok Max carrier, which is the largest size permitted to enter Thailand’s Bangkok Port on the Chao Phraya River.
The vessel comes with a new, modern design that can accommodate more than 40 high-cube containers and increase the potential for loading large machinery, the company said.
Reducing the weight of the ship’s hull allows lower fuel consumption, thus cutting carbon dioxide emissions accordingly. In addition, an exhaust filter has been installed to lessen the amount of sulfur the vessel emits into the atmosphere from 3.5% to less than 0.5% in accordance to the company’s ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) and sustainability policies.
The Singapore-flagged Nattha Bhum left Bangkok Port on Friday morning, June 21, for its maiden voyage to Laem Chabang Port in southern Thailand on a route that called at Sriracha in Thailand on the same day, at Nansha and Hong Kong in China on June 28, and at Shenzhen on June 29. It is expected to arrive in Laem Chabang on Tuesday morning, July 4, according to vesselfinder.com.
RCL earlier disclosed in May that it eyes Mideast-Africa growth via services into that region as freight revenue plunged 96.2% to $394 per TEU from $773 in the first quarter of 2023, The Loadstar reported.
“In Q1 23, several adverse factors affected the container shipping market, including global economic slowdown, inflation, high bunker prices and geopolitical conflicts,” the report quoted Tanthuwanit.
But the company has been able to sustain its net profit by implementing cost-conscious measures that successfully reduced both fixed and variable operating costs, he said.
“Freight rates and lifting volumes have adjusted to the pre-Covid period. The market has also become more competitive. In response to intensifying market competition, the company has proactively adapted by expanding its markets beyond intra-Asia destinations, including Africa,” Tanthuwanit said.
Last year, RCL launched the Thanya Bhum, a 12,000-TEU newbuilding acquired from the Japanese shipyard Imabari Shipbuilding and chartered it to Zim Line, which renamed the ship Zim Bangkok.
The Loadstar said RCL is also planning to expand reefer business and renew its fleet. Late last year, the company scrapped two older feeder ships, Xetha Bhum and Mathu Bhum, and ordered four 7,000-TEU ships from Shanghai Waigaoqiao and two 12,000-TEU vessels from Nihon Shipyard.
In 2022, RCL was ranked 26th among the world’s ocean freight forwarders.
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