KUWAIT's UASC has taken delivery of the Unayzah third of a series of nine 13,470 TEU ships from Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries and expected to join Far East-Middle East service organised by CMA CGM, CSCL and UASC (AMA/CIMEX/AGX 1).

Ordered in June 2008, the vessel is in drydock in China to receive antifouling paint and is expected to join the fleet shortly to replace ships on two existing with a single loop of seven ships in the 13,000 - 14,000 TEU range.

The Unayzah follows the Ain Snan, delivered in January. UASC is in the process of receiving eight of its nine A13 class ships during the first half of the year, including the Ain Snan.

The delivery of these ships was postponed by a year because several of them were completed in 2011 and then mothballed. The first unit in the nine-ship series was delivered in April 2011 while the eight remaining units are being handed over to UASC in close succession in the first half.