Previous Story
APL Guam makes maiden voyage to Saipan, Guam
APL Guam Express made its first port of call on Saipan last Thursday as part of its maiden voyage. The U.S.-flagged ship will have a Yokohama-Guam-Saipan-Busan service route. (Frauleine Villanueva-Dizon)
The U.S.-flagged ship headed out for Guam on Friday after welcoming the New Year in the CNMI.
APL Guam’s maiden voyage was delayed as APL earlier targeted it to arrive on Saipan last November.
“There was a delay of about a month,” APL general manager for Guam and Micronesia John Selleck said.
Selleck said there were requirements that they had to meet to ensure the safety of the crew and the whole ship.
APL Guam was dry-docked in China and was converted in order to be under U.S. flagship.
The ship has a capacity of 1,000 TEUs or twenty-foot equivalent units, which mean it can carry 1,000 20-foot containers or 550 40-foot containers. It can also carry 200 refrigerated containers.
According to Selleck, there are changes in the route as well as in the schedule of APL Guam.
The Yokohama-Saipan-Guam route that APL earlier announced will now include Busan, South Korea.
Selleck said the ship will be in Yokohama on Tuesdays, Guam on Saturdays, Saipan on Sundays, and Busan on Thursdays.
APL Guam will be in Guam again on Jan. 9 and on Saipan on Jan. 10.
Selleck said that APL will be making up for the delayed shipments its customers experienced.
“We’re grateful for our customers that stuck with us. We want to make it up to them and we’re making special arrangements for those customers. They took a risk with us and we really appreciate that,” Selleck said
He said they expect to have more support in the future now that they had their maiden voyage. He added that a second ship to service the CNMI is still being looked at.
