Christening ceremony for the OOCL Utah in Shanghai

The OOCL Utah is an 8,888 TEU containership built by one of the finest shipyards in China, the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Company, and the newest addition to OOCL’s international fleet of free trade ambassadors, linking trade across the Pacific through our South China 2 service. As a Hong Kong-based company with strong connections to China and the United States, OOCL is very pleased that Shanghai is the location for the christening ceremony of the OOCL Utah. “China and the United States have a very important trading relationship,” said Mr. Andy Tung, Chief Executive Officer of OOCL in his ceremonial address. “For over 40 years, OOCL have been involved in the container transportation business facilitating trade and commerce between the two markets, witnessing how the countries grew and benefited from the success of global transportation, which is the life blood of world trade.”

In officiating the naming of the new vessel after the American State of Utah, OOCL was deeply honored with the presence of two important Utahns, Mrs. Nancy Hale, as our Sponsor, and her husband, Mr. Val Hale, Executive Director of Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, as our Guest of Honor. Reflecting on OOCL’s relationship with the Utah community, Mr. Tung said: “A few years ago, in our consideration to establish our Integrated Management and Service Center in North America, we looked deeply into Utah’s infrastructure and business community and saw opportunities for us to grow and strengthen our services by setting up the office in Salt Lake City. OOCL’s motto to ‘Take it personally’ in all that we do is paramount to our success in bringing quality product and services to customers and is deeply rooted in our culture. We are also dedicated to establishing strong and lasting partnerships, and we are very happy to have friends and colleagues from the Utah community with us in our journey providing a ‘Vital Link’ to world trade.” Following the Sponsor’s blessings to OOCL Utah and her crew, Mr. Hale represented the State of Utah to welcome OOCL’s commitment and presence in the Utahn community and expressed the importance of working together to facilitate trade and cultural exchange between our nations. “Utah’s skilled workforce, business friendly environment and quality of life have attracted many companies from all over the world, and we are pleased that OOCL agrees that we are a good match,” said Mr. Hale. “We especially look forward to continuing to build bridges and maintain our heritage of language and cultural diversity. OOCL’s Integrated Management and Service Center in Utah will certainly benefit from that heritage, just as we will benefit from the company’s presence.”