Bishu Highway and Hoegh Kunsan - well timed

A well timed arrival and departure this afternoon, allowed the Bishu Highway to sail from Autoport, and the Hoegh Kunsan to dock very shortly afterwards. As Bishu Highway emerged from Eastern Passage, Hoegh Kunsan passed Ives Knoll. It then sailed west and north about George's Island and headed for Autoport.

Hoegh Kunsan, flying the flag of Singapore, was built in 1996 as Maersk Taiyo, and is of a much older design than we normally see in Halifax these days. The forepeak is open and it has a much finer flare to its bow and stern. It has very narrow side ramps on both port and starboard and interestingly also has a protective ice knife over it rudder. Renamed in 2008, it is still managed by Maersk Tankers, but owned by Hoegh. Its 44,219 grt encloses sufficient space to carry 4300 autos. It was built by Tadotsu Factory, Tadotsu, Japan.

The Japanese flag Bishu Highway is owned by K-Line and operated by their management company Taiyo NK [note Maersk Taiyo  above] and was built by Shin Kurushima, in Toyohashi, Japan in 2009. It is of a more modern design, with maximized hull form including car decks over the forepeak. Its eleven decks have a capacity of 6,135 cars, on a gross tonnage of 56,978. It has a side door on the starboard side only.  Even with a service speed of 23 knots it is said to be 10% to 15% more fuel efficient than previous generations of car carriers. Its last port was Emden and it sailed for Houston.

 

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