FAR EAST – AFRICA – The latest ship to sport the distinctive white hull of the Safmarine shipping company is the Safmarine Chilka, a 4,500 TEU WAFMAX container vessel and the first of three similar craft to join the A.P Moller-Maersk fleet in 2012. The Safmarine Chilka, which has a crew complement of nine, is also the first of a series of container vessels from the South Korean yards of Hyundai Heavy Industries to be fitted with super-long-stroke main engines and a waste heat recovery system to reduce emissions and save fuel. Grant Daly, Safmarine CEO commented:
“Twenty-three new Safmarine-branded vessels have joined the A.P. Moller-Maersk fleet since 2004, which represents a significant investment in the Safmarine brand. Not only are these vessels an example of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group’s commitment to growing and strengthening the Safmarine brand and our trade with Africa, but they are also among the most modern in the industry today, thanks to new technology which is far kinder to the environment.
“Using environmentally-friendly paints to paint our ships white is not only a characteristic of all Safmarine container vessels, but it also benefits energy conservation as it lowers the ambient temperature in the holds were reefer boxes are carried, and this means less energy is needed for cooling and less electricity consumed.”
The WAFMAX class, the largest box carriers able to call at ports on the West African trade, are around 250 metres long with a 13.5 metre draught and are part of an original order by Maersk for twenty two such vessels with the intention of providing Far Eastern customers with a direct service as opposed to feeder vessels following transhipment of containers elsewhere with the resultant delays. The ships are often fitted with cranes to allow rapid discharge in the smaller coastal ports as can be seen in the photo of the new vessel.
