The double hull naming of the 2,500 teu container vessels, the Safmarine Nakuru and Safmarine Nuba, represents a first in the history of multi-trade shipping line Safmarine and brings to seven the total number of owned containerships named by the company this year.

Safmarine was particularly honored to have Dr. Angela Merkel, member of German Parliament and Chancellor of Germany, named the Safmarine Nakuru and Miss Berlinda Oduro-Owusu - daughter of Mr. Nana Oduro-Owusu, Managing Director, Cocoa Marketing Company, Ghana ' named the Safmarine Nuba at a special ceremony held at Germany's Volkswerft Stralsund Shipyard on Saturday, June 14, 2008.

The Safmarine Nakuru and Safmarine Nuba now join sister-vessels Safmarine Ngami, Safmarine Nyassa and Safmarine Nile ' named earlier this year ' as newcomers to the Safmarine fleet. The Safmarine Nakuru takes its name from a soda lake in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya while the Safmarine Nuba is named after a range of mountains in southern Sudan.

Both vessels, which have a crew complement of 17, will be deployed on the trades between West Africa and Europe.