In terms of gross tonnage, one cannot help noticing the significant increase in the size of tankers and bulk carriers that now visit the upper harbour.
Vessels more than 30,000gt negotiating the Victoria Channel may have been a no-no in the past, but it has been a reality since May, 2001.
To date, 11 tankers and 12 bulkers of more than 30,000gt have visited and created records for the upper harbour.
Holding the record since June 13, 2008, is the 32,474gt Maltese-flag bulk carrier Cake. It is still sailing under this flag but was renamed Deniz-M three months ago.
The ship was completed in July, 2007, by the Shanghai Shipyard & Chengxi Shipyard Company.
But this week another, newer Maltese-flag vessel built in China will take over the top spot when it berths at Ravensbourne to discharge phosphate from Morocco. This vessel is the 32,837gt Tenor which entered service on March 25.
The 189.99m-long vessel has a deadweight capacity of 57,970 tonnes and a service speed of 14.3 knots. It was built at Yangzhou by the Yangzhou Dayang Shipbuilding Co.
It is interesting to note that the vessel, with its links with China and the Maltese flag, is owned by Tenor Sasu, a company managed by Setaf-Saget SaSu, of Suresnes Cedex.
Established in 1968, it operates a fleet of five vessels, three of which came from the Yangzhou yard since June, 2009, for service under the Maltese flag.
The other unit, the smaller 18,176gt, 28,300dwt cement carrier Endeavor, built elsewhere last year, flies the Luxembourg flag.
Two other Chinese-built first-timers are calling to load logs at Port Chalmers.
Xuchanghai is due tomorrow and TPC Lyttelton next week.
The former is another of a standard design built by the Hudong shipyard at Shanghai. Several of them have called here since the series was introduced to this harbour with the arrival at Port Chalmers of Forest Venture in December, 1996, the month before Xuchanghai entered service.
The 18,074gt, 27,110dwt vessel flies the flag of Panama, is owned by Xuchanghai Shipping, of Tianjin, and is operated by COSCO Bulk Carriers Co.
Sister ship Yichanghai, delivered in May, 1997, came here for logs in March, 1999.
TPC Lyttelton is a newer, larger 23,494gt, 33,717dwt, 180m-long vessel that is something of a mixed bag. It operates under the flag of the Marshall Islands for South Korean interests, and was built in a Chinese yard controlled by South Korean interests.
The ship is owned by KP 10 International and is operated by the TPC Korea Co, of Seoul. Its service speed of 14 knots comes from a 5-cylinder, 7900kW diesel supplied by the STX Engine Company of Changwon. The five cargo holds are served by four 35 tonnes capacity cranes. This double-hull newcomer was laid down on July 15, 2009, launched on April 11, and completed on July 12. It was built by the Samjin Shipbuilding Industries Co, at Weihai, in Shandong province.
This yard completed its first vessel, one of the same design as TPC Lyttelton, in April, 2009. Established as the Samgeon International Co in March, 1983, the company changed its name to the Samjin Co in 1999. It has always been a main supplier of equipment to South Korean shipbuilders.
Another Chinese-built vessel coming our way early next month, is the Hamburg-Sud-chartered container ship Cap Mondego.
