Ship to be on N.Z. run

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32604, 12 May 1971, Page 2

Ship to be on N.Z. run

(N.Z.P A. Staff Correspondent) LONDON, May 11. The latest container ship specially built for trade between New Zealand and the United States will be launched this afternoon in Bremen, West Germany, by Lady Acland, wife of the chairman of the Wool Board (Sir John Acland). To be known as ACT 4, the ship gets her name from Associated Container Transportation, the consortium of British Conference Lines that owns her. It names al) its ships after itself. ACT 4 will carry 1158 containers and also has space for 168,000 cu. ft of general cargo. Up to 556 containers on any trip can be refrigerated. She is 712 feet over-all, will sail at 22 knots and displaces 25,000 tons. She will I cost more than Slim. ALREADY PLYING ACT 1 and ACT 2 are al-1 ready carrying containers between Australia and Europe. ACT 3, launched in Germany in February, and now fitting out in Bremen, will be used with her sister ships ACT 4 and ACT 5 to launch the Australia-New Zealandeast coast of North America container trade over the next 12 months.

Two more slightly larger, container ships are being built in the north of England for the Britain-New Zealand container run, which is due to start in 1973.

The consortium includes the Blue Star Line, Ellerman Lines and the Port Line, all of which have previously traded separately.