United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) has taken delivery of its second 13,500 TEU (A13) capacity container vessel Ain Snan, named after an area in Qatar famed for its historic monuments. Ain Snan will join its sister vessel Umm Salal (delivered back in April 2011), as the second Qatari-sponsored vessel to be received by UASC as part of the Company’s newbuild fleet of nine A13 container vessels on order since 2008 with Samsung Heavy Industries – Korea (SHI) at a combined contract price of around USD 1.5 billion.

Ain Snan was delivered during a ceremony at the SHI shipyard in Geoje, South Korea on January 16, 2012.

A new era for UASC starts to take shape with the delivery of this second A13 vessel and with the expected delivery of the remaining seven sisterships within the coming four months.

UASC currently owns and operates a total of 54 container ships and the A13 class vessels will be by far the largest units to be added to the Company’s fleet.

The investment in the A13 class vessels is expected to yield important economies of scale, allowing UASC to compete more effectively in its key Asia - Europe, Asia - Arabian Gulf, Asia - North Europe to Red Sea trades where UASC’s Customers will benefit from comprehensive shipping services with some of the most competitive transit times in the market.

The expansion envisioned by UASC’s growth strategy and through the new A13 fleet deployment plan will place UASC in a favourable position as a much stronger competitor on the East-West trades, in addition to the company’s traditional Middle East trades.

In advance of the arrival of the new ships, UASC has also stepped up its container purchasing programme, investing in new standard and reefer container units, while the company’s new fully integrated liner management information system called TRUST recently became fully operational. This system will, amongst others, enhance UASC’s e-commerce capabilities allowing Customers to make transactions online more easily.

Ain Snan enters service according to the new UASC deployment plan, on the AEC8 service covering Asia - Red Sea and North Europe starting February 6, 2012.

With an overall length of 366m, and powered by a Doosan MAN B&W 12 cylinder main engine, the Ain Snan can operate at a service speed of around 25 knots, at a capacity of 13,500 containers including 800 40ft reefer containers on deck, and with three holds designed for hazardous cargoes.

As well as being more economical, Umm Salal, Ain Snan and their sisters are also very environmentally-friendly vessels, incorporating the latest technology in a number of fields allowing UASC to reduce its carbon emissions into the atmosphere. All UASC A13 vessels are equipped with waste heat recovery systems (WHRS), which convert exhaust heat to electric power, and have hulls coated with a silicone paint designed to reduce water resistance thereby reducing fuel consumption and the CO2 footprint.

UASC remains committed to offering a wider network of fast and reliable services with highly competitive transit times to cater for its valuable Customers growing demand around the globe.