East London welcomes modern vessel on maiden voyage
Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) welcomed the MV TITUS, the latest Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean (WW Ocean) Neo-Panamax vessel on her maiden voyage into the Port of East London on Sunday, 21 October. Her previous port of call had been Port Elizabeth and she left East London on Monday morning.
Sailing under the flag of Malta, the ship is registered in the Port of Valletta. She has a gross tonnage of 73 358 MT, a deadweight of 23 891.9 MT, a length of 199.9 m and a width of 36.5 metres.
MV TITUS discharged 350 imported vehicles and loaded 400 locally manufactured Mercedes Benz C-Class vehicles. Marine pilot Billy Rowe was assisted by two of the port’s tugs, Umthwalume and Impunzi, as well as the TNPA workboat Tristan Tern, in docking the vessel safely. Rowe then handed over a plaque to the vessel’s master, Captain Ulf Marderyd, during a ceremony on board the vessel to mark the maiden arrival at the port.
MV TITUS is the latest history-making arrival in the Port of East London. Earlier this year the port docked its two largest vessels to date. In April the Chinese-owned ZHEN HUA 8, a 220m long, 42.3m wide multi-purpose, heavy load carrier docked safely. This was followed in May with the maiden voyage of the port’s first ever HERO Class vessel, MV THERMOPYLAE, also operated by WW Ocean.
East London Port Manager, Sharon Sijako, said: “Accommodating these larger vessels demonstrates to the rest of the country, and indeed the international shipping fraternity, that we have the expertise on hand to rise to the challenge of safely and efficiently catering for vessels of these dimensions.”
Specifically designed to reduce energy consumption and emissions per ton/km cargo transported, MV TITUS is the first Large Car and Truck Carrier (LCTC) ever built at the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation’s (CSIC) Xingang Shipyard and the first Chinese built LCTC in the WW Ocean fleet. WW Ocean already has four of these High Efficiency Ro-Ro (HERO) vessels in operation, which are a specialised type of car carrier introduced in 2015 to maximise on the widening of the Panama Canal international trade route. These ships boast increased width and capacity than the usual roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessels, greater flexibility for a variety of vehicles and other wheeled or trailer-borne cargo, as well as reduced fuel consumption and carbon emissions.
Media Release: Terry Taylor (Transnet National Ports Authority at the Port of East London
Photographs: Provided