Maersk Series CH / Sea-Land Atlantic

These ships were built for a new round-the-world service of the United States Line. Unfortunately the USL went out of service due financial problems and all the ships were laid up immediately after their delivery from the wharf. The ships were taken over by Sea-Land. The Atlantic class vessels were added to Sea-Land's fleet in 1988.

These ships are also designed to serve the US Army and Marine where necessary. Because these ships were built with US government money it was not possible to sell them to foreign countries. These ships were sailing between NW Europe and the USA, but now they are almost all sailing between the Mediterranean and the USA. The ships are 289.52 m long, 32.22 m wide and have a draft of 11.68 m. They can carry 4258 TEU's. These ships are not so very fast, they can reach a speed of 18 knots due her engine (only 23620 hp). That for such a ship too little power for a good speed.

Parbel Inc. is a Florida company that imports L'Oreal products from France. In 1992, Parbel ordered a shipment consisting of four containers from Parfums Et Beaute International Et Cie ("Parfums"), which shipped the order on the Nedlloyd Holland, a ship operated by P&O Containers, Ltd. ("P&O"). P&O contracted to deliver the shipment from LeHavre, France, to Parbel's warehouse in Miami, Florida. After the Nedlloyd Holland arrived at Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, the containers were off-loaded from the ship and stored in a container yard operated by Sea-Land Service, Inc. ("Sea-Land") until delivery to the consignee in Miami. Sometime between December 26 and December 28, 1992, one of the containers mysteriously disappeared.

Formerly the Galveston Bay, the Sea-Land Pride is a former Atlantic class vessel that was one of three converted to SL-31 [D-9J] status in 1994. The Sea-Land Pride is currently deployed in the Arabian Gulf Express Service.

In 2000 Maersk was awarded a five-year MSC charter for the operation of two ships to carry ammunition as part of the prepositioned force. The new Military Sealift Command (MSC) contract awarded to Maersk Lines, converted two Maersk Lines ships for pre-positioning duty. The M/V Innovation and the M/V Newark Bay became two of the largest container ships in the fleet. Those ships, the Newark Bay and OOCL Innovation, were delivered in February 2001.

The "Sea-Land Integrity" was one of the vessels which were built for the United States Line in 1984. Her previous name was "Virginia". She was built in 1984 in South Korea and she bears the US flag. Her homeport is New York. The "Sea-Land Commitment" (ex "OOCL Inspiration") has the same history as the "Sea-Land Integrity" regarding the building and delivery.

On 04 January 1998 two containerships received damage after they collided at Felixstowe, UK. M/V Newark Bay (U.S.-registry 59,810-dwt, Sea-Land Service) hit the M/V MSC Insa (Mediterranean Shipping) after bad weather parted tow lines to the Newark Bay as it was berthing. The MSC Insa, already at a berth, was pushed into a mud bank. No containers were outwardly damaged.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) has, for the first time in Indian port history, engaged six shore gantries at one time for vessel operation on a single vessel, M. V. Sealand Motivator which called at the port on December 28, 1998. As a result, the Port registered the highest-ever berth productivity of 87.19 moves/hour, surpassing the previous record of 71.78 moves/hour on December 9, 1997 on M. V. Sealand Pride.

On 25 July 2000, U.S. Ship Management, Inc. announced that they were changing the names of four vessels. The OOCL INSPIRATION was renamed the SEALAND COMMITMENT on August 1, 2000; OOCL INNOVATION was renamed the SEALAND OREGON on August 6, 2000; NEDLLOYD HOLLAND was renamed the SEALAND FLORIDA on August 10, and the GALVESTON BAY was renamed the SEALAND ACHIEVER on August 17. All name changes occured in Houston. The renaming of these vessels had no impact upon the MSP agreements in place.

The 57,075 gt OOCL Innovation, formerly known as the Nedlloyd Hudson [1993], Nebraska [1988], Susan C [1988], and American Nebraska 1987] was built in 1985 by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Heavy Machinery, Okpo, Korea (hull number 4007). The ship was operated by Orient Overseas Container Line [OOCL] on charter from Sea-Land, and Renamed SEALAND OREGON in 2000.

Blohm + Voss [B+V] reputation for repair punctuality is increasingly attractive to tight-schedule boxship operators. That was reflected in the repairs and minor conversions on Sea-Land's 58,869 dwt, 4,614 TEU Sea-Land Atlantic, Sea-Land Integrity, Sea-Land Quality, Newark Bay, and OOCL Inspiration, all carried out at 12 day intervals up to mid July 2000. The work included hatch cover conversion and pipe work as part of upgraded fuel and ballast tank changes as well as routine painting, maintenance and voyage repairs. A few years ago B+V converted three other Sea-Land ships in the same seriesóshortening them and building new bow sections.

In July 2000 Maersk Sealand announced that it would pull three U.S.-flag Econships from the Trans-Atlantic trade and install them on its Med-Gulf Express Service. The ships include the SEA-LAND INNOVATOR, SEA-LAND QUALITY and the SEA-LAND INTEGRITY. US Ship Management, Inc. managed the vessels since Maersk acquired Sea-Land's international liner operations. USSM, a US citizen corporation, time charters the vessels to Maersk. The presence of US-flag vessels on the route is important because they will give Maersk Sealand access to valuable US military and aid shipments. Cargo-preference laws require such shipments to move on US-flag vessels.

One example of the flexibility provided for under the terms and conditions of the Maritime Security Act of 1996 was the ability of MSP operators to substitute newer, more efficient and militarily useful vessels for existing MSP vessels.

On December 28, 2000 the Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced its approval to grant a request by U.S. Ship Management, Inc. (USSMI) to replace the container vessel NEWARK BAY with the container vessel SEALAND PRIDE under Maritime Security Program (MSP) Operating Agreement MA/MSP-31. The approval was subject to several conditions, principally two that called for the USSMI to continue to maintain U.S. citizenship and for the company to enroll the SEALAND PRIDE in the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement. Administrator Clyde Hart found the replacement ship SEALAND PRIDE to be in the national interest because it "has greater speed, is more maneuverable, and has essentially the same militarily useful carrying capacity, with a longer useful life expectancy when compared to the NEWARK BAY."

While the replacement vessel exceeded the age requirements for MSP eligibility, MARAD determined, after consultation with the U.S. Transportation Command, that the SEALAND PRIDE was a suitable replacement as it had undergone significant modifications that increased its speed as well as its military utility.

In 2000 Maersk was awarded a five-year MSC charter for the operation of two ships that will carry ammunition as part of the prepositioned force. Those ships, the Newark Bay and OOCL Innovation, were delivered in February 2001.

On February 23, 2001, similar approval was granted to USSMI to substitute the SEALAND MOTIVATOR for the SEALAND OREGON. The SEALAND MOTIVATOR is a sister ship of the SEALAND PRIDE. The Maritime Administration (MARAD) granted approval to U.S. Management, Inc. (USSMI), to replace the container vessel SEALAND OREGON (ex-OOCL INNOVATION) with the container vessel SEALAND MOTIVATOR under the Maritime Security (MSP) Operating Agreement MA/MSP-32. The approval is subject to several conditions, principally two that call for the USMMI to maintain U.S. citizenship and for the company to enroll the SEALAND MOTIVATOR in the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement. MARAD found the replacement of the SEALAND OREGON with the SEALAND MOTIVATOR to be in the national interest because it (the SEALAND MOTIVATOR) "has greater speed, is more maneuverable, and has better military carrying capacity, with a longer useful life expectancy when compared to the SEALAND OREGON."

Food distribution to American military forces in Europe was back on schedule by March 27, 2001, as all embargoed Military Traffic Management Command food containers at the port of Rotterdam were released for delivery to Germany. Over 50 containers of food bound for U.S. military forces have been embargoed in Rotterdam since they arrived March 21 aboard the Sealand Performance - the same day several cases of foot and mouth disease were discovered in The Netherlands. Dutch customs put a 72-hour embargo on 52 of the containers which contained refrigerated or frozen meat products.

The Sealand Achiever (call sign WPKD) commenced reporting radiosonde TEMP SHIP messages from the Atlantic in July 2001 using Vaisala RS80 radiosondes and a Digicora III groundsystem. Windfinding is provided by Loran or GPS according to the viability of these systems at the ship's location.