| Taiwanese carrier Evergreen Marine Corp introduced a new vessel for its Asia Pacific–Red Sea service on 14 April, replacing an older vessel. The 8,508 teu Ever Lyric was built by CSBC Corporation in Taiwan. Ever Lyric is the eighth of Evergreen’s L-type vessels. The application of a new energy-saving bow enables the ship to further enhance fuel-efficiency and reduce emissions, according to Evergreen. “Comparisons of such operational performance data reveal that this eco-friendly bow design enables an L-type vessel to reduce fuel consumption by between 12% and 21% within normal sailing speeds,” stated Raymond Lin, Evergreen Group's vice-chairman at the vessel's naming ceremony. “It does not only help to reduce operating costs, but also safeguard the environment by cutting greenhouse gas emissions." With the delivery of Ever Lyric, Evergreen has 28 eco-friendly ships in its fleet. Two newbuildings are being built by CSBC and will be delivered by the third quarter of 2015. Evergreen’s capacity is expected to break 1 million teu in 2016. It has chartered 10 14,000 teu vessels in 2014 and another 11 18,000 teu ships in the beginning of 2015. Evergreen’s revenue in the first quarter of 2015 totalled TWD35.28 billion, up 2.82% year on year (y/y), and in March it posted revenue of TWD12.14 billion, growing by 5.99% y/y. The carrier stated that freight rates of Euro–Asia lines declined a lot recently, and its performance relies on the annual renewal of US services in May, as well as the rate trend of Euro services. |