OOCL Sydney, a brand new container vessel of 2,762 TEU, on her maiden voyage, arrived today in Sydney, the city that she is named after. OOCL Sydney sailed from Koyo Shipyard in Japan ten days ago and had visited Shanghai, Chiwan and Hong Kong to load cargo bound for Australian ports.
This new vessel will join the new Australia China Express (ACE) service, jointly operated by OOCL and China Shipping, linking major ports in Australia the growing market of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. OOCL Sydney is welcomed by a spectacular water display by Sydney Ports Corporation’s fire tug, the Shirley Smith on her entry to the Sydney Harbour, and berthed at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.
During the commemoration ceremony at the Terminal, Sydney Port’s Chairman, Mr. David Field had presented the Captain of the OOCL Sydney with a maiden voyage commemorative plaque and said, "OOCL Sydney has come home and we welcome you. I hope you will bring prosperity and understanding to all the people and places that you meet and visit."
OOCL Sydney is a sister vessel to OOCL Melbourne, OOCL Xiamen and OOCL Osaka. These vessels will all be delivered during the first half of 2003. OOCL Sydney is equipped with 300 reefer plugs and will provide further improvement of reefer service to our Australia and Greater China reefer customers.
Mr. CL Ting, managing director of Asia Pacific of OOCL spoke at the ceremony, "OOCL is no stranger to the Australia trade as we starting serving Australia continuously since 1972. Now we have what we believe is the best service ever with two fixed day weekly sailings between Australia and Southeast Asia, two sailings to Northeast Asia and one sailing from New Zealand. With the addition of OOCL Sydney and later on OOCL Melbourne, we are going to have the best connection ever between Australia and Greater China."
OOCL Sydney at the Port of Sydney
Port rotation of OOCL Sydney under ACE service is as follows:
Australia to Asia (Northbound)
Sydney \ Melbourne \ Brisbane \ Kaohsiung
Asia to Australia (Southbound)
Kaohsiung \ Hong Kong \ Shanghai \ Chiwan \ Hong Kong \ Sydney
Orient Overseas Container Line Ltd. (OOCL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Stock Exchange listed Orient Overseas (International) Ltd. OOCL is an international container transportation and logistics service provider headquartered in Hong Kong. Linking Asia, Europe, North America, the Mediterranean, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East and Australia/New Zealand, the company offers transportation services to all major east/west trading economies of the world. OOCL is one of the leading international carriers serving China, providing a full range of logistics and transportation services throughout the country. It is also an industry leader in the use of information technology and e-commerce to manage the entire cargo process. Website: www.oocl.com
