United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), owned by six Arabian Gulf States (Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and U.A.E.) celebrated the naming and delivery of its 7th new A7 ship at a specially organized ceremony held at HHI, Ulsan in Korea. The naming and delivery ceremony took place in the presence of a number of distinguished guests of the UASC group and key officials of HHI shipyard.

Mr. Ken Bloch Soerensen, UASC's President & CEO acted as the sponsor and bestowed the name M.V. Al Hilal and took delivery of the new ship. Al Hilal signifies the crescent of the moon, and thereby, is considered an important symbol in the Middle East. Al Hilal is also the name of an old area in Doha ' the capital city of Qatar.

M.V. Al Hilal is the seventh A7 ship built by Hyundai Heavy industries Limited for UASC against an order for eight ships. She carries the Qatari flag and is deployed in the Asia-Middle East-Europe Container service. With an overall length of 306 mtrs, moulded beam of 40 mtrs, and fitted with Hyundai-Sulzer 11RT-flex 96C main engines, these new A7 ships have an enormous capacity to load 6,919 TEU containers and can operate at a service speed of 25.5 knots per hour. They can load 459 FEU units of reefer containers and are also equipped to transport hazardous cargoes.

Speaking on behalf of United Arab Shipping Company, Mr. Ken Soerensen welcomed all the guests and in particular, the ship officers joining Al Hilal and officers from United Arab Agencies, Korea. He thanked Hyundai, Schiffko and UASC teams for a superb job in controlling and supporting the building and delivery of hull no. 1838 and the first 6 ships in the series, well ahead of the contracted delivery time. In accordance with UASC's long-term strategic plans, M.V. Al Hilal will further augment the capacity of UASC's fleet in meeting the increasing demand for cost-effective and efficient shipping regionally and internationally.

Finally, he thanked HHI management for their warm hospitality and to all the distinguished guests for attending the celebrations. He wished the very best for HHI and UASC.