OOCL Charleston named at Geoje Shipyard, Korea

OOCL announced on December 18, 2009, the christening of the twelfth Panamax class vessel in our line of sixteen 4,500-TEU vessels ordered from Samsung Heavy Industries.

The new vessel was christened the m.v. OOCL Charleston by sponsor Mrs Louisa Cheng, the wife of Mr Edward Cheng, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive, USI Holdings Limited, and Chairman, Lanson Place Hospitality Management Limited.

Mr CC Tung, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Orient Overseas (International) Limited (OOIL), hosted the naming ceremony on behalf of the OOIL Group. Mr. J W Kim, the President and CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries, also attended the naming ceremony of the OOCL Charleston.

“The OOCL Charleston is named after the vibrant Port of Charleston, in the United States. Charleston is the capital and largest city of the state of West Virginia.  Today, it is the second largest container seaport on the East Coast of the United States and the fourth largest container seaport in North America. I am certain that the OOCL Charleston, as an ambassador for world trade, will proudly live up to its name,” said Mr CC Tung, speaking at the vessel’s christening ceremony in Korea.

“With such vessels, OOCL can improve the service we provide to our customers, offering greater economies of scale, increased capacity and higher frequency of sailings,” said Mr Tung.
OOCL Charleston will be deployed on the China Pakistan Express (CPX) service. The port rotation is: Shanghai / Ningbo / Shekou / Singapore / Karachi / Mundra / Nhava Sheva / Penang / Port Kelang / Singapore / Hong Kong and back to Shanghai in a 35-day round trip.

(Source: Transport Weekly)