Together with Jörn Warwel, deputy head of the Nautical Control Centre, Günter Kuhberg, Managing Director of UASC (NWE), as well as other representatives from UASC shipping line and the terminal operator Eurogate, the Captain of the UMM SALAL, Mohammed Sajid, was presented with a plaque bearing the Port of Hamburg’s admiralty coat of arms to commemorate the ship’s first call.

The UMM SALAL and the other UASC ships are fitted with ‘Stowman’ planning software produced by Interschalt Marine Systems, based in Schenefeld near Hamburg. The software optimizes container stowage and facilitates improved use of capacity. Over and above this the UMM SALAL is equipped with the most modern environmental technology, taking a leading role in convincing environmentally friendly transport management for such giant container ships.

The UMM SALAL will sail in the weekly Europe-Far East container service AEC-8, which UASC runs together with CMA CGM, China Shipping and Evergreen. The four shipping lines deploy the nine ships with a slot capacity between 9,500 and 14,100 TEU, in the AEC-8, the FAL-2 and AEX-7 services. They call at the following ports: Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Port Klang, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Hong Kong, Yantian, Port Klang, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Hamburg. The round trip for the complete loop will take 63 days. Together with the AEC-2 and leased slots on other services from other carriers UASC has a total of seven connections between the Far East and Hamburg. So far in 2011 the Port of Hamburg has been able to welcome three new Far East Services. In the first three months of the year 1.3 million TEU were handled, in waterborne container traffic with the Asia trade. That represents 15.7% more than in the same time period in the previous year.

China Shipping has joined Evergreen, UASC and CMA CGM to increase capacity on the AEX7 service (between Asia and Europe). The port of Le Havre is the first European port of call after the ships leave the Asian ports of Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Hong-Kong, Yantian and Port Kelang.

The main reason was that the Board felt that the offer didn’t reflect the value potential of the Demag Cranes shares.

At exactly 2pm, the ship was successfully launched after its naming by Mrs Bernadette Prignon, President of the Liege Court of Appeal and wife of Mr Didier Reynders, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Institutional Reforms of the Belgian federal government.

The design, build and delivery contract between DEME N.V. and IHC Dredgers B.V. was signed in June 2010 and the new vessel’s keel was laid on 15 November 2010. The ship will sail in October 2011. The Breughel has been named after the famous Belgian Northern Renaissance painter. With a hopper capacity of 11,650 m3 and a carrying capacity of 18,710 tons, this new ship fits perfectly into the trailing suction hopper dredger segment which includes the “Brabo” and “Breydel”, ships that were introduced into the fleet in 2007 and 2008, respectively. The “Breughel” has a 1,200 mm dredging pipe on the port side and will be able to dredge at depths of up to 43 m.

The “Breughel” was designed for dredging in both deep and shallow waters, providing extensive flexibility. Even with a maximum load, it will only have a draught of 8.15 m. With this ship, DEME again confirms that its fleet of dredging vessels offers the best carrying capacity/draught ratio in the dredging industry. It is an undisputable asset in terms of multi-use applications, from deployment for maintenance work in deltas to land reclamation projects with transport across large distances.

The high-tech ship combines all of the latest DEME innovations and developments in dredging technology and will be equipped with a direct pump-ashore installation and a nozzle for rainbowing purposes. The one-man bridge control on the BREUGHEL is equipped with the latest, state-of-the-art console, which combines dredging and sailing functions. With its design focused on minimal CO2 emissions, this suction hopper dredger merits the label ‘best C02-emission/m3 ratio in its class’ and will consequently be awarded a Green Certificate.