United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), owned by six Arabian Gulf States (Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and U.A.E.) formally took delivery of a new ship at a specially organized delivery and naming ceremony held at Ulsan in Korea.

The new ship, named M.V. Al Manamah, is the fifth A7 ship built by Hyundai Heavy industries Limited for UASC against an order for eight ships. The new ships have enormous capacity and can load 6919 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, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Al Khalifa, Chairman of the General Organization of Sea Ports (GOP) and Board Member, UASC, referred to the excellent relations that exist between the two companies and thanked the Management and the employees of Hyundai for completing delivery of ships ordered ahead of the contracted delivery times. He said, 'It is heartening that the ships already delivered by Hyundai are performing extremely well in the UASC's service network and that the new ship will further add to the capacity of the company in meeting the increasing demand for cost-effective and efficient shipping regionally and internationally.'

'With a resurgence in the shipping industry in recent times, it is time for shipping lines to support and modernize their fleet and further enhance the level of service to the customers at competitive costs,' Shaikh Daij added.

The ceremony was attended by two Board Members of the UASC - Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Al Khalifa, Chairman of GOP and Mr. Saleh Abdulla Al Mussallam. It was also attended by Mr. Eid Abdulla Yousif, Deputy Chairman of GOP, Mr. Hassan Ali Al Majed, Director General GOP and Mr. Abdul EIlah Al Arabi, General Manager of UASC in Bahrain. On behalf of Hyundai Heavy Industries, Mr. K.S. Choe, the company's Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer and other members of the Management attended the event.