The worlds largest container ship takes its maiden voyage

The worlds largest container ship, the MOL Triumph, set off on her maiden voyage from Xingang, China on the 10th April. With a gross tonnage of 210678, deadweight of 197500 tonnes and length and breadth of 400m x 59m it certainly does pack a punch - with the ability to carry 20,150 twenty foot containers. MOL will sail to Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Yantian and Singapore, before it transits through the Suez Canal. It will then continue on to Tangier, Southampton, Hamburg, Rotterdam and Le Havre before calling back at at Tangier and then Jebel Ali on the return voyage to Asia. The new 20,000 TEU-class container ships are equipped with various highly advanced energy-saving technologies. These include low friction underwater paint, high efficiency propeller and rudder, Savor Stator as a stream fin on the hull body, and an optimised fine hull form. According to MOL, these technologies can further reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions per container moved by about 25-30% when compared to 14,000 TEU-class containerships. Additionally, the vessel has also been designed with the retrofit option to convert to LNG, in view of the implementation of the International Maritime Organisation’s new regulation to limit emission in marine fuels, which will come into effect in 2020. MOL will take the delivery of the second 20,000 TEU-class vessel in May 2017. Eventually there will be six 20,000 TEU-class containerships unveiled, and they will be phased in gradually on the existing trade routes of MOL. MOL Triumph takes the title as the world’s largest containership from the 19,224 TEU MSC Oscar and her three sister ships. The four vessels were delivered to Mediterranean Shipping Company in 2015 by South Korea’s DSME. They measure 395.4 meters in length and have a beam of 59 meters. At this time, we are anticipating the ship arriving into Southampton on roughly the 11th May, and we will keep you updated with its progress.