COSCO Asia docks at Tianjin Five Continents International Container Terminal in northern China on August 8, 2007. [Photo: Xinhua]

Asia's first 10,050-TEU container vessel, named COSCO Asia, which is docked at Tianjin Five Continents International Container Terminal in north China, is set to sail on its maiden voyage Thursday, along the China-Europe shipping route.

COSCO Asia is the first of four of such mammoth vessels built for China's Ocean Shipping Group (COSCO), Container Lines by South Korea's key oceangoing container producer, Hyundai Heavy Industries' (HHI) yard in Ulsan.

Having a full length of 349 meters, and a width of 45.6 meters, COSCO Asia can hold a total volume of 140,000 tonnes of containers with each a twenty-foot equivalent unit box.

The last of the four huge ships in the series made by HHI is scheduled to be delivered to COSCO by middle of next year.

So far, all of COSCO's container ships of 6,000 TEU and greater have been built by HHI. Since 2004, five 7,500 TEU ships, three 8,200 TEU ships and five 9,500 TEU ships have joined COSCO's global fleet. Earlier this year, COSCO signed a long-term charter for eight 8,500 TEU ships, which will also be built by HHI and will be delivered starting from 2010.