HONG KONG's Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), now a Cosco unit, has welcomed its first new megaship with the naming of the OOCL Spain, the first of six 24,188-TEUers ordered.

The OOCL Spain was built at the Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (NACKS) shipyard in Nantong, where the naming was held.

The ship is 400 metres long, 61.3 metres abeam and ranks as one of the largest containerships in the world, surpassing Evergreen's 24,004-TEU A-class vessels but less than MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company's MSC Irina and MSC Loreto which have a capacity of 24,346 TEU.

"The OOCL Spain is not only the first newbuilding that has been delivered to us in over five years, but it is also OOCL's first vessel with a capacity over 24,000 TEU," said OOCL chief executive Kenny Ye.

"More important, she is the first newbuilding received by OOCL since the company joined Cosco Shipping, and so it is the first vessel jointly created by OOCL and other sister companies," he said.

The OOCL Spain has been awarded three "smart ship" notations by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) in recognition of its use of AI technology to optimise operations, helping to improve fuel efficiency, structural health monitoring and navigational safety.

The vessel is due to join OOCL's Asia-Europe service LL3 starting in March with a port rotation that includes Shanghai, Xiamen, Nansha, Hong Kong, Yantian, Cai Mep, Singapore, Piraeus, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Valencia, Piraeus, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and back to Shanghai in an 84-day round trip.