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SUBIC
BAY FREEPORT—The 41,000-ton MV Argolikos will be
formally launched today (July 4) by President Arroyo.
The MV
Argolikos is the first ship to be manufactured by Hanjin
Heavy Industries Corp.-Philippines in its sprawling
Redondo Peninsula shipyard here.
The
launch will be graced by Korean Ambassador Jong Ki Hong,
Greek Ambassador Georges Chrysostomos Nicolaidis and
representatives of Dioryx Maritime Corp., the Greek
shipping firm that ordered Argolikos, along with five
other box ships.
Arroyo
and other guests will be received at the Hanjin Heavy
shipyard here by HHIC-Phil. chairman Nam Ho Cho, HHIC-Phil.
president Jeong Sup Shim, Secretary Edgardo Pamintuan of
the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development, Zambales Gov.
Amor Deloso and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority
officials led by chairman Feliciano Salonga and
administrator Armand Arreza.
The
launching ceremony is a major event here, where Hanjin
Heavy has a $1.6-billion shipyard that is currently the
single-biggest investment in this former US naval base.
The MV
Argolikos, valued at around $60 million, is also the
first container carrier to be built in the country, said
Salonga.
It was
named after the Gulf of Argolikos, which opens into the
Aegean Sea off the east coast of Greece.
HHIC-Phil.
is expected to deliver the container vessel to Dioryx
sometime this month.
According to Hanjin Heavy, the 4,300-TEU (twenty-foot
equivalent unit) container carrier weighs 41,000 tons,
has a length of 258.9 meters, a width of 32 meters, a
height of 19 meters and an actual speed of 24.6 knots.
The
company announced last month that the vessel had
successfully passed a three-day sea trial from May 27 to
29 to gauge the vessel’s speed and maneuverability,
equipment, ship systems and safety features.
Prior to
the trial run, the ship has been certified by Bureau
Veritas, a Paris-based conformity assessment,
certification and inspection and testing firm, said
Pyeong Jong Yu, head of HHIC-Phil.’s Outside Business
Department.
HHIC-Phil.
has also secured for the ship a cargo ship safety
equipment certificate, a complete crew list and a
certificate of competency for the Korean crew from the
Busan Regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Office, Yu
added.
Salonga,
meanwhile, said the first Subic-made ship also made
local maritime history when it was completed six months
ahead of schedule.
He said
that HHIC-Phil. laid the ship’s keel last September and
finished the construction in April.
The MV
Argolikos, Salonga added, is the first of six container
vessels ordered by Dioryx from HHIC-Phil.
He said
the company also expects to manufacture in Subic some of
the largest container ships in the world with gross
tonnage of more or less 100,000 tons. |
