U-Ming holds Christening ceremony for second LNG dual fuel, scrubber fitted VLOC
- Published
by Admin
Taiwan listed bulk carrier company U-Ming Marine Transport Corporation (U-Ming) in mid-December said its subsidiary U-Ming Marine Transport (Singapore) Pte Ltd held a Christening ceremony at Qingdao Beihai Shipyard for M.V. Grand Wisdom, it’s second 325,000 dwt Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOC) built by Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co. Ltd.
Guests from both Taipei and Singapore offices were able to attend the ceremony simultaneously via digital platforms.
The ceremony was hosted by Douglas Hsu, Chairman of the Far Eastern Group, M.V. Grand Wisdom was named by Liu Chuang, Yi-Fei, spouse of U-Ming Marine’s Independent Director Liu Chorng-Jian.
M.V. Grand Wisdom is the second VLOC built for U-Ming by Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding to operate under the 25-year Contract of Affreightment (COA) awarded by Vale International SA of Switzerland (Vale), one of the world’s top 5 iron ore producers, for transporting Brazilian iron ore to China.
The total contracted value of this COA is more than USD 600 million enabling the company to secure a bigger portion of long-term contracts with stabilized revenue and profit, it explained.
In pursuit of greener shipping, the company said the vessel is equipped with the most advanced MAN B&W main engine, and embedded with LNG ready design concept, allowing flexibility to transform the ship into LNG dual-fuel in the future.
The vessel is also equipped with a SOx Scrubber, in compliance with the International Maritime Organization’s 2020 global sulphur limit.
With its ultra-low fuel consumption performance and its EEDI standard above international regulations, U-Ming will be able to enhance its competitive advantage by providing green shipping to its customers with reduced greenhouse emissions.
U-Ming recognizes that after energy-saving eco-ships, the next industry trend and optimization opportunity will be the introduction of “Smart-ship” through digital technology.
Under the strategic business plan, U-Ming’s management team has identified Performance Enhancement (PE), Condition Monitoring Enhancement (CME), Reliability and Security Enhancement (RSE) as the key focus for intelligent vessels’ development at this stage.
Upon completion and delivery, M.V. Grand Wisdom will be awarded with three SmartShip (PE, CME, RSE) notations by the DNV GL Classification Society,
U-Ming currently owns and operates Capesize, Post Panamax, Kamsarmax, Panamax, Ultramax and Supramax bulk carriers; cement carriers; Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) and Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOC), amounting to a total of 50 vessels including vessels that are in operation, under construction, joint ventures and ship management services; totaling deadweight of 7.29 million tons.
With subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Singapore and China Xiamen, it is the largest public-listed bulk carrier company in Taiwan in terms of gross tonnage.
Related: U-Ming awarded 10-year charter for LNG dual fuel bulk carriers with Anglo American
Related: U-Ming orders ‘LNG-ready’ VLOC pair from Chinese yard
Photo credit: U-Ming Marine Transport Corporation
Published: 29 December, 2020
