‘K’ Line car carrier on maiden call to Colombo Port

Monday, 3 March 2014 01:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

‘K’ Line brand new car carrier with a load of 248 domestic use vehicles from Bombay called at the Port of Colombo on 11 February 2014 on her maiden call to the Port of Colombo. The agents for the vessel M/V ‘NOCC OCEANIC’, ABC Shipping Limited arranged a Holy mass on the vessel to bless the vessel and the crew to mark the occasion which was narrated by the Deputy Principal of St Joseph’s College Wattala branch Rev Fr Kamal Kumara who is also an ex-employee of ABC Shipping Limited before his consecration. Director Port Operations Upali De Zoysa, Chief Operations Manager Nimal Jayathissa, ABC Shipping General Manager Tressel G. Silva, Asst General Manager Reggie Dias and the crew attended the Holy mass.

De Zoysa thanked K ‘Line and ABC Shipping Limited Chairman John Shiran Dissanayake for proposing a Holy Mass on board the new ship which is a need of the hour and inviting them to grace the Holy Mass. Nimal Jayathissa too commented that this is the first time that he attended a Holy mass on board the vessel on a maiden voyage and thanked the agents for inviting SLPA to be a part of the Holy Mass. Tressel Silva thanked Rev Fr Kamal Kumara, Upali De Zoysa and Nimal Jayathissa for accepting his invitation to grace the Holy mass amidst their busy schedules. Also Silva thanked the Master of the vessel Capt. Darold N. Dejos for arranging and making a suitable environment to grace the Holy Mass on board the vessel. Silva commented that their principals Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (‘K’ Line) and shipbuilding companies have reached agreements to build four next generation car carrier vessels. Participating shipbuilders are Shin Kurushima Dockyard Co. Ltd and Japan Marine United Corporation, each company to build two vessels, respectively. Silva further added that their principals “K’ Line has spent considerable length of time studying and investigating the most suitable next generation car carrier with shipyards. They have appointed two shipyards and are adopting state of the art design in terms of top notch fuel efficiency and flexibility on cargo handling that will be far better than their existing fleet.” He said that, “These vessels will be the widest beam ever built, around 37-38 metres with 7,500-unit capacity. Length of the vessel is kept at 200 metres, considering ability to call at any port.” Silva confirmed that the delivery of this quartet of new ships will take place in 2015 and the first quarter of 2016.