August 19 - The steel cutting ceremony for United European Car Carriers' (UECC) first dual fuel LNG pure truck and car carriers (PCTCs) was held on 6 August at the NACKS shipyard in Nantong, China.
Last year, UECC, jointly owned by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) and Wallenius Lines, commissioned two LNG PCTCs with Finnish/Swedish ice class 1A certification. The first of these, newbuilding number 212, yet to be named, is expected to be delivered by the end of the Q3 of 2016.
Among those attending the ceremony were UECC ceo Glenn Edvardsen, NYK's Takashi Yonesawa, Wallenius marine project manager of strategic projects Carl Fagergren and representatives from the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Lloyds and NACKS.
Edvardsen described the ceremony as "a significant milestone in the UECC's history", marking the start of the construction of "the most technically advanced PCTC vessels ever built".
The next milestone is the keel laying, which will take place close to Christmas 2015. Both vessels are expected to be delivered by the end of Q4 2016.
