The ship design is an extended variant of the basic type Bodewes Eko Trader 8250 . The type of ship is designed as a multipurpose dry cargo ship with a deckhouse arranged aft and a long, middle hold . The volume of the hold is 11,895 m 3 , the tank ceiling is designed for loads of 15 tons / m 2 . The displaceable tween decks can with 3.5 tonnes / m 2 are charged, the hatch covers with 1.75 tons / m 2 . The ships are mainly used in the transport of bulk goods, bulk cargo, smaller project cargoes or containers. The container capacity is 287 TEU . The vessels are fitted with two on the port side, electro-hydraulic NMF - ship cranes equipped with 60 tons of lift capacity, which in the coupled operating colli can scroll up to 120 tons. The holds of the ships are closed by stacking hatch covers (piggy-back), which are operated by a movable hatch car.
The driving of vessels consists of a MaK - four-stroke - diesel engine of the type 6M32 with a power of approximately 3000 kW. The engine enables a speed of around 12.5 knots . The berthing and casting off maneuvers are supported by a bow thruster . Particularly noticeable is the foredeck with Groot Cross-Bow, the shape of which should enable low fuel consumption. In addition, this bow shape is intended to minimize the ship's pitching movements in heavy seas.
Two of the ships of the smaller 8250 variant have so far been put into service, the UAL Africa and the UAL Bodewes . The first launch of the 8700 variant took place in early November 2012 with UAL Houston , which was followed in 2013 by UAL Texas . All ships in the series were initially registered for the Marner shipping company Erwin Strahlmann during construction and were taken over by the shipping company Universal Africa Lines upon completion.
