Ray Smuts
WHEN SAFMARINE'S container ship S.A.Oranje docked in Port Elizabeth from the Far East on Wednesday (June 28), loaded with 2 000 TEUs, just 20 short of total capacity, she became the first of the company's six owned ships to sport a new name - Safmarine Oranje.
The Safmarine prefix, explains media manager Richard Warnes, pertains specifically to re-enforcing the company brand.
The 35 000 dwt Safmarine Oranje, built in the former Yugloslavia in 1991, is the newest of Safmarine's distinctive white-hulled vessels, known affectionately to some as a 'small white', along with the similar size S.A.Vaal built in Japan.
The four 'big whites' of 52 000 dwt, built in France in 1977/78 and with total capacity of 3 000 TEUs, are SAHelderberg, SAWaterberg, SAWinterberg and SASederberg, all of which underwent a 'life exension programme' about five years ago. This, says Warnes, gives them a lifespan approved by the Classification Society of 30 years from the time of building.
The remaining name changes will be implemented soon.
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