United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) formally took delivery of a new ship built by Hyundai Heavy industries for UASC against an order for eight ships.

M V Al Manamah, the fifth A7 ship from Hyundai, was handed over at a specially-organised delivery and naming ceremony held at Ulsan in Korea.

The ships have enormous capacity and can load 6919 TEU containers and operate at a service speed of 25.5 knots per hour. They are also equipped to transport hazardous cargoes.

General Organisation of Sea Ports (GOP) chairman and UASC board member Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa referred to the excellent relations that exist between the two companies and thanked the management and the employees of Hyundai for completing delivery of ships ordered ahead of the contracted delivery times.

'It is heartening that the ships already delivered by Hyundai are performing extremely well in the UASC's service network and that the new ship will further add to the capacity of the company in meeting the increasing demand for cost-effective and efficient shipping regionally and internationally,' he said.

'With a resurgence in the shipping industry in recent times, it is time for shipping lines to support and modernise their fleet and further enhance the level of service to the customers at competitive costs.'

The ceremony was attended by Shaikh Daij and UASC board member Saleh Abdulla Al Mussallam.

It was also attended by GOP deputy chairman Eid Abdulla Yousif, director general Hassan Ali Al Majed, and the UASC general manager in Bahrain Abdul EIlah Al Arabi.-TradeArabia News Service