The Hakone Maru was laid on February 9, 1968 as hull number 882 of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Kobe , Japan. As the first Japanese full container ship, it was ordered together with the sister ship Haruna Maru by the shipping companies Nippon Yusen Kaisha (Japanese Mail Steamship Company ) and Showa Kaiun Kaisha (SKK). Both ships were owned equally by both shipping companies, but the Hakone Maru sailed in the colors of the NYK, the Haruna Maru in the colors of the SKK. The first-generation container ship began its maiden voyage on August 27, 1968 and reached Oakland for the first time on September 23, 1968. It operated on the NYK-Showa Line between Japan and the US West Coast until 1978 . In 1978 the ship was renamed Pacific Express and in 1980 it was sold to the South Korean shipping company Korea Marine Transport .
Before this ship, the NYK shipping company owned its first Hakone Maru from 1921 to 1943 . A third Hakone Maru followed from 1983 to 1999 .
technology
Hakone Maru and Haruna Maru each had six cargo holds, five in front of the superstructure arranged far aft and one behind. The forward cargo hold was only intended for loading below deck; all other hatches were designed for loading two layers of containers on deck during construction. In addition, there was space for another row with two layers of containers at the aft edge of the deck structure. In later years the number of container layers stowed on deck was increased, analogous to all other operators of earlier container ships. In addition to the transport of the dry, refrigerated and open-top containers customary at the time, the ships were also intended for the transport of so-called pen containers (special containers for transporting live animals).
Both ships were powered by a Mitsubishi two-stroke diesel engine manufactured under MAN license with an output of 20,739 kW, which acted directly on a fixed propeller. Three generators with 600 600 kW / 450 V each were available as auxiliary diesels.
literature
Carpenter, R .: Container Ships . Model & Allied Publications, Hemel Hempstead 1971.
Sigwart, EE: Merchant Ships: World Built . Adlard Coles Limited, London 1969.
