Evergreen’s Inaugural Voyage through Expanded Panama Canal

July 12, 2016 - Ever Lambent, an 8,452 TEU containership owned by the Evergreen Group, passed through the expanded Panama Canal on the ninth of July (Panama time), marking a new era for Evergreen Line’s all-water services connecting the Far East with the US East Coast. Evergreen held a special ceremony to mark the occasion at the Canal’s Cocoli Locks. Representatives from shipping related industries and government agencies were present to witness and celebrate the significant milestone. Ever Lambent is 334 meters in length, 45.8 meters wide, with a deadweight tonnage of 104,408 tons and scantling draft of 14.2 meters. The vessel is not only Evergreen’s first large containership to pass through Panama Canal’s third set of locks but also the first Taiwanese operated cargo ship of over 100,000 DWT to transit the expanded waterway. Ever Lambent is deployed on the NUE service, which serves Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Coco Solo (Colon Container Terminal), Savannah, Charleston, Baltimore and New York. In light of the business opportunity presented by the expansion of the Canal, Evergreen recently upgraded the size of the ships it utilizes on its Far East – USEC services, introducing 8,452 TEU L-class containerships to replace the 4,211 TEU D-type vessels previously deployed. Evergreen’s internal research indicates that the eco-friendly L-class vessel can offer the equivalent capacity as two traditional Panamax ships while at the same time reducing fuel consumption by 40% and lowering carbon emissions by the same percentage. Together with the fleet upgrade program, Evergreen has further enhanced its service cooperation with strategic partners to offer both a direct service from the Far East to US Gulf ports, including Houston, Mobile and Miami through a capacity swap arrangement and to offer a more comprehensive service to its existing network of destinations. In light of the demand for increased terminal capacity to handle larger vessels following the completion of the Canal’s expansion program, Evergreen has built the new Berth No. 4 at its Colon Container Terminal. At CCT, Evergreen will continue with the next stage of a planned expansion program, which on completion, expected around the first quarter of 2017, will enable the terminal to handle two large vessels of 12,000 – 14,000 TEU simultaneously.