The MOL Encore was built at the IHI Marine United yard in Japan as hull number 3,163. This is the first of a series of four Panamax containerships that are under construction at this shipyard. It serves the Japan / Far East to North America West Coast route on a long-term bareboat charter from Kaisho Shipping Co. It is owned by the Panamanian company Lunar River and operated by Mitsui OSK lines.
The MOL Encore is 294.13m in overall length or 282m between perpendiculars and has a moulded breadth of 32.36m. Its moulded depth to the upper deck is 21.8m. It has a design draught of 12m and a scantling draught of 13.5m. It registers 53,100gt and has a design deadweight of 49,800dwt (as well as a scantling deadweight of nearer 61,400dwt).
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CONTAINER CAPACITY AND BALLAST
The MOL Encore can carry 20ft, 40ft and 45ft containers of 8ft 6in and 9ft 6in in height. There are cell guides in the holds, where it is possible to carry two tiers of ‘high cube’ containers. The total TEU capacity of the box-ship is 4,578. This breaks down to 2,070 in the holds and 2,508 on deck. The containers are arranged in eight tiers by 11 rows in the holds and seven tiers by 13 rows on deck. There are 393 reefer plugs. The MOL Encore has a pontoon-type MacGregor Kayaba hatch cover.
To stabilise the ship, there is a Nakakita Seisakusho ballast control system. It has heel control facilities consisting of a semi-automatic tank. There is a limited fuel storage capacity in the side tanks, these being mainly used for ballast purposes. The double bottom is divided into centre and wing tanks.
ENGINES AND POWER
The main engine is a Sulzer 9RTA96C design manufactured by Diesel United. It produces an output of 49,410kW at 100rpm. It consumes 178t of fuel per day with auxiliaries accounting for another 7t. The fuel oil bunkers contain 7,228m³ with another 358m³ for diesel oil.
A feature of the engine is a cylinder oil saving system, which works using the swirl injection principle and affords better use of the oil and a notable saving in cylinder oil consumption. The engine is linked to a Nickel-Aluminium-Bronze propeller. This fixed pitch unit has a diameter of 8,370mm and features a Mitsui OSK propeller boss cap fin. This produces a service speed of 24.5 knots.
For manoeuvring in port, the MOL Encore has a Kawasaki bow thruster with an output of 1,620kW. For mooring, there are two electric winch / windlasses and four mooring winches, all manufactured by Nippon Pusnes.
The electrical system is based on a turbo-alternator. The alternator, manufactured by Taiyo, and the turbine, a Shinko RG64 unit, have an output of 1,200kW at a speed of 1,800rpm.
This is assisted by four diesel-driven alternators based on Yanmar 2N 208L-XV engines and Taiyo FEK58B-10 alternators. The engines have an output of 1,971kW at 720rpm and the alternators have an output of 1,820kW at 720rpm.
The MOL Encore has a package boiler, provided by Osaka Boiler Co, which has an output of 13t/h.
CREW AND FACILITIES
The ship has a complement of 13 officers and 17 crew. The NABCO electric bridge control system is designed for one-man operation. There are two Furuno radars, a FAR02835S and a FAR 2825.
The vessel has a Taiko Kikai SBT40 sewage plant and a Volcano VIRM-130 incinerator.
The MOL Encore is classified by Nippon Kaiji Kyokai with the notation NS,Container Carrier, MNS,MO-B.
