27-Jul-2004

Thamesport (London) Limited welcomed Hatsu Marine Limited’s Hatsu Envoy on its first call to the Port on Thursday 22nd July. The 6,332-TEU Hatsu Envoy is the largest vessel ever to call at the Medway facility, at 300 metres long and 42.8 metres wide, with a draft of 13.5 metres.

This is the first time that Thamesport has handled a vessel with containers stacked 17 wide, and a record exchange of containers was achieved for a single vessel, with a total of 2,102 being moved.

The Hatsu Envoy, built in 2001, has a gross tonnage of 76,067, and is capable of a maximum speed of 24.5 knots.

The Hatsu Envoy is the first in a line of larger container ships that will use the Thamesport facility in the coming months, as part of the surge in demand experienced by shipping lines across the globe, and illustrates the response of Hatsu Marine Limited’s parent, Evergreen Marine Corporation (Taipei), to meet this need.

In order to accommodate these new larger vessels, Thamesport will embark upon a modification programme later in the year to heighten the cradles of five of its post-Panamax quayside cranes, now around 15 years old.

David Gledhill, Chief Operating Officer of Thamesport, commented:

“We are delighted to welcome the Hatsu Envoy to Thamesport, and wish the vessel and its crew well on their forthcoming voyage. Evergreen have long been one of Thamesport’s largest customers, and we thank them for their continued commitment to the Port.”

He continued:

“We have undergone a programme of considerable investment in equipment and infrastructure at the Port in recent months, and we will continue to strive towards providing our customers with even higher levels of customer service and productivity in the future.”

To commemorate the inaugural visit of the Hatsu Envoy to Thamesport, Mr Gledhill made a presentation to the Ship’s Master, Captain Wei-lee Rau, in the presence of Mr Maurice Storey, Chairman of Hatsu Marine Limited, Mr Slin Yeh, Chairman of Evergreen Europe, Mr Jason Lin, President of Hatsu Marine Limited, and Captain An-Kuo Shiue, Junior Vice-President of Hatsu Marine Limited.