APL Names Newest Container Vessel

SAN PEDRO – On Oct. 4, APL named a 9,200-TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containership at the Port of Los Angeles, The APL Savannah.

The vessel is the fifth in a series of twelve 9,200-TEU vessels to be delivered to APL, the container shipping arm of Singapore-based shipping and logistics company Neptune Orient Lines. It also is the first containership to be named and christened at the Port of Los Angeles.

APL Savannah and its sister ships are the largest in the APL fleet to ply the Trans-Pacific trade between Asia and the United Stateson the South Asia Express service, rotating ports in San Pedro, Busan, Kaohsiung, Chiwan, Yantian and Singapore.

The 9,200-TEU series of vessels is designed for greater operational efficiency and more environmentally-sustainable operations, such as an optimized hull form that reduces hull resistance and results in less fuel consumed for propulsion.

Its fuel efficiency, measured by the Energy Efficiency Design Index, is certified to be 30.54 percent better than guidelines set by the International Maritime Organization. By consuming less fuel, the ships will also emit less exhaust.