OOCL names eighth 24,000+ mega boxship

​Hong Kong-based container shipping company Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has welcomed to its fleet OOCL Abu Dhabi, the company’s eight eco-friendly 24,188 TEU containership.

The mega boxship was named during a ceremony held at Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (DACKS) shipyard on February 25, 2024.

OOCL Abu Dhabi is the fourth of six 24,188 TEU newbuildings to be delivered to OOCL by DACKS. Flying the flag of Hong Kong, the ship features a length of 400 meters and a width of 61.3 meters.

As informed, the unit will serve the Asia-Europe LL1 service.

“With the continuous delivery of new vessels, more and more ships carrying the plum blossom logo of OOCL are sailing on the sea, marking the continued upgrading of the fleet structure of OOCL and the group. Looking ahead, we will continue to bring better and greener integrated end-to-end logistics services to our customers. As always, we are also looking forward to working with all our customers and business partners to grow together and to create higher value through win-win cooperation,” Junguang XIAO, Group Legal Advisor and Director of OOCL, commented.

In January this year, Orient Overseas Container Line introduced its seventh 24,000+ TEU newbuild, the OOCL Valencia, which was built at Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (NACKS) shipyard.

Last year, the company also welcomed OOCL Gdynia, OOCL Zeebrugge, OOCL Felixtowe, OOCL Spain, OOCL Piraeus and OOCL Turkiye.

OOCL expects the new series of twelve green and smart mega vessels to provide it with economies of scale, energy efficiency, and long-term navigational safety.

The shipping company ordered five 23,000 TEU boxships at COSCO shipbuilding yards in China back in 2020, with three ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs) assigned for construction at NACKS yard and the remaining two at DACKS.

The order was followed by another contract later that year with OOCL ordering seven additional units.