Just a few days into the new year and the 2015 trend of welcoming ‘big’ new arrivals does not show signs of slowing down, as La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT) greets two ULCC maiden calls in close sequence – 13,000 TEUs Al Riffa on January 1st and 10,000 TEUs Hanjin Netherlands on the 4th.
Ships are often named after people or places and here we are with no difference, with Al Riffa named after Bahrain’s second largest city.
Operated by United Arab Shipping Company SAG (UASC) and Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd respectively, both ships are deployed in the Asia Med trade lane, part of two of the four weekly services calling La Spezia from the Far East.
The crews – in the persons of master Ivo Hruza for Al Riffa and chief officer Choi Heejun of Hanjin Netherlands – were presented with the customized crest by LSCT planners Paolo Rasi and Roberto Sandri, a memento of the ships’ maiden calls at La Spezia.
