Baltimore hosts ACL christening of <em>Atlantic Star</em>

   Atlantic Container Line (ACL) christened its new G4 vessel, Atlantic Star, Friday in the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore’s Dundalk Marine Terminal. 
   Commissioner Rebecca Dye of the Federal Maritime Commission acted as godmother of the vessel. 
   “The ACL G4 vessels are the first of their kind and the largest multipurpose ro-ro/containerships ever built,” the company said. “They incorporate an innovative design that increases capacity without significantly changing the dimensions of the vessel. 
   “The G4s are bigger, greener and more efficient than their predecessors. Their container capacity is more than doubled at 3,800 TEUs, with 28,900 square meters of ro-ro space and a car capacity of 1,300-plus vehicles. The ro-ro ramps are wider and shallower, and the decks are higher— up to 7.4 meters — with fewer columns that enable much easier loading and discharge of oversized cargo. Fuel consumption per TEU has been dramatically reduced and emissions have been eliminated by scrubbers,” ACL said. 
   Atlantic Star is registered in the United Kingdom and is one of five vessels in ACL’s new G4 fleet.