New NYK boxboat debuts in Europe

摘要

On 22 February Japanese container line Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) took delivery of the first of its new ultra large container ships, NYK Blue Jay. She is the first in a series of ten vessels ordered in April 2014 from the Japanese shipbuilder Japan Marine United (JMU). The vessels, all of which are to be named after birds, are scheduled for delivery between February 2016 and January 2018 and are to replace existing ships as well as the four 13,000TEU ships chartered from alliance partner OOCL. With a capacity of 14,026TEU, NYK Blue Jay is able to load 11 tiers of containers in 18 rows under deck, with a maximum of nine tiers in 20 rows on deck. This new series of ships are currently the largest box ships being built in Japan and, as with all vessels of this size, feature the split superstructure design. The new vessels' hull form is designed to improve cargo loading efficiency by maximising underdeck container capacity, reducing engine room space.