The 20,170 teu MOL Truth has been registered with Panama, a first for the Registry.
“This is a historic moment, as we are registering the first ship of Panamanian flag of 20,000 containers of Japan, in the context of the 100 years of Panama Ship Registry and 40 years of friendship between the cities of Imabari and Panama,” said Jorge Barakat Pitty, Panama Minister of Maritime Affairs.
The ship 20,170 teu MOL Truth is deployed for trade between Asia and Europe and she will be operated by Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), serving mainly the Toyota Corporation cargo. She was named in the shipyard of Saijo of the city of Imabari.
The vessel is eco-friendly, belonging to the Ultra Large Container Ship (ULCS) classification, and designed with some improvements in propulsion to be more efficient and reducing CO2 emissions up to 50% compared to other container ships. She has the option of being modernised to become a LNG vessel in view of the implementation of the new IMO regulation to limit sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions in marine fuels that will come into force in 2020.
“We wish to thank once again the Japanese maritime community for their trust and support for the Panamanian flag, as Panama has been, is and will continue to be a reliable partner of Japan, both in good times and in difficult times,” said Barakat.
Big Business and big money for all those concerned. Panama is the little country that could.