Largest Containership Arrives in Taiwan on Maiden Voyage
Evergreen Marine’s newest container ship, the Ever Ace, arrived in Taiwan becoming the largest boxship to dock in the port and by some measures also the largest containership in the world. The vessel, which is on its maiden voyage, is part of an expansion program that will significantly increase the Taiwanese carriers’ capacity.
Ordered in 2019 and delivered on July 29 to Evergreen by Samsung Heavy Industries, the Ever Ace is reported with a total container capacity of 23,992 TEU, which would make it just slightly larger in capacity than HMM’s ultra-large containerships which are rated at 23,964 TEU. In April 2021, CMA CGM, however, claimed the world’s record for the largest actual load with 21,433 TEU aboard the CMA CGM Jacques Saade when it departed Singapore.
The new Ever Ace is 1,312 feet in length with a beam of just over 200 feet. In dimensions, she is similar to the other 24,000 TEU ULCC vessels built recently. Samsung also reported that the vessel has a top speed of 22.6 knots and is designed to operate very efficiently with several new features including a flared bow design.
Ever Ace docked in Taiwan on August 8 (Taiwan Ports Corporation)
The Ever Ace was delivered to Evergreen on July 29 and departed the Qingdao Port at Shanghai loaded with 6,200 TEU as it began its maiden voyage. The new vessel was given a festive arrival on August 8 as she reached the port of Taipei. where Evergreen is headquartered. The vessel will continue to Yantian, China before heading to Europe on its first voyage.
The new containership is the beginning of a new class of 12 ULCC ships on order for Evergreen, with a total of four expected to be delivered this year. Six are being built by Samsung with the others being built at Hudong Zhonghua and Jiangnan Shipbuilding in China. The six being built in China reportedly will have a slightly smaller capacity of 23,888 TEU. Evergreen added two of the orders this spring to the class and is rumored to be considered three additional vessels.
The new class of boxships is approximately 20 percent larger than Evergreen’s largest vessels, including the Ever Given. The line noted during the delivery ceremony that the new vessels will be used to upgrade its operations on the European route which had previously been using 14,000 TEU vessels.
These vessels are part of the carrier’s growth plan that calls for the addition of 70 new vessels with a combined total capacity of 688,000 TEU. Alphaliner currently ranks Evergreen seventh largest with a total capacity of 1,385,477 TEU. In the first half of the year, Evergreen took delivery on 14 new vessels adding 98,000 TEU in capacity and it is expected to take delivery on 19 more ships in the second half of 2021. Further, the company is also reassigning vessels from other subsidiaries to Evergreen Line in order to meet current market demands.
Benefitting from the strong market conditions, and just beginning to reflect the capacity growth, Evergreen reported that revenues doubled in the first half of the year to nearly $7 billion while profits topped $3.2 billion.