A bottle of champagne was cracked across the bow of the ship Shengking at the Port of Tauranga in a ceremony considered an honour for the port.

The ship was named by its lady sponsor Charlotte Bleasdale, who in Swire shipping tradition is now considered the ship's ‘godmother'.

Shengking's master captain Norman McNee accepts a painting of the Shengking No2 from Charlotte Beasdale. Country manager Brodie Stevens at right.

Shengking named in Tauranga

'The significance of naming the ship here is it reflects the importance Swire shipping puts on the port of Tauranga,” says Swire country manager Brodie Stevens.

The ship was named at an official ceremony on Friday.

Charlotte was asked to be lady sponsor for the ship because she's had a long association with Swire Shipping. She wrote the company history, celebrating 140 years of business and her husband Chris is a former chief engineer with the company, and who is still connected with Swire Shipping.

'So she's very well known to Swire,” says Brodie. 'It's always traditional that people associated with the company or have an interest in the company get asked to be godmother.”

He says there are basically five trades which pull through this port and they are in multi-purpose shipping.

'We go right back to the origins of the port with various trades and multiple customers that have over time morphed into what is now Swire shipping.”

The ‘S' class Shengking is one of eight S class ships representing a $320million investment by Swire shipping in the Australasia/Asia/Pacific trades. It is the third Shengking in the Swire fleet since the John Sire and Sons founded the China Navigation Company 140 years ago.

The ships are as environmentally friendly, eco-friendly and fuel efficient as modern ship building can get.

The come equipped to deal with anticipated future environmental regulations and have a ballast water treatment system, an advanced incinerator and oily water separator plant, and large black and grey water tanks to avoid discharge in sensitive areas.

As multi-purpose ships they are built for efficiency, productivity and flexibility, says Brodie. 'They have got different holds, different cranes, and different capacities. They carry pulp, steel, logs, lumber, boats, cars; but we also carry containers.”

At 32,000 deadweight tonnes the S class ships are considered big ships for what they do and the trades they are in, says Brodie.