MSC takes in second of twenty 19,224-TEUers from Daewoo yard


THE Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has taken delivery of the second in a series of twenty 19,224-TEU ships, the MSC Oliver from the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in Busan. 

THE Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has taken delivery of the second in a series of twenty 19,224-TEU ships, the MSC Oliver from the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in Busan. 

"It was the turn of Oscar's cousin, Oliver, to break the traditional bottle of champagne against the ship, in the presence of his father, the executive chairman of MSC Cruises, Pierfrancesco Vago, representing both the Aponte family and MSC Group. MSC Oliver is the second of a total of 20 mega-vessels," a company statement said.

Traditionally, MSC containerships are named after female relatives of company employees. To date, there are just five exceptions: the MSC Aniello, MSC Don Giovanni, MSC Diego, MSC Oscar and now, the MSC Oliver.

"As these are the next generation vessels it is fitting that they be named after the grandchildren of MSC founder, Gianluigi Aponte," said Mr Vago. "Our children carry the promise of this family's future and these ships, the promise of MSC's destiny."

MSC president and CEO Diego Aponte and his son Oscar were in Busan just two months ago, to christen the MSC Oscar, the world's largest containership. 

"MSC Oscar and MSC Oliver are ships of the same class - not only can they carry more containers but they are also greener and more fuel efficient than any other container ship we operate," added Mr Vago. 

MSC Oliver will join the Albatross service which operates on the tradelane between Asia and Europe.

The westbound port rotation is: Dalian, Busan, Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Shenzhen-Yantian, Tunjung Pelepas, Algeciras, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven and, Wilhelmshaven.

The eastbound rotation is: Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Algeciras, Tangier, Tunjung Pelepas, Shenzhen-Yantian, Shanghai, Dalian, Busan and back to Qingdao.

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