The firm has initiated plans to change its fleet composition to gradually replace its Panamax vessels with ships whose capacities range between 4,000 TEUs and 5,000 TEUs, Chen said. In addition, the company is to form slot-swapping partnerships — where shipping capacity, measured in TEUs, are reserved and swapped with other shippers on the US east coast. The Ever Lambent, the company’s L-type 8,452 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) container ship, which has a cargo capacity of 104,000 tonnes, made its way through the canal, the company said. Chen said the decision would yield greater synergistic gains, as the company’s strategy shares great similarities with prospective members of the Ocean Alliance. The canal expansion project, which saw the construction of a third set of locks is expected to triple the cargo throughput, as larger vessels would be able to utilize the key conduit for global maritime trade, shipping industry experts have said.

Source: Taipei Times July 11, 2016 15:56 UTC